Duo and the Beast
by Dubious Dane
Summary: This makes me sad, it's such rubbish. But people seem to like it, so. If you can't get the concept from the title... well. AU Huzza. FINISHED W EPILOGUE Link to Lemon
1. The fairy tale beginning

Author's Note- Oh dear, what have I done. I've gone and started another story. *shakes her head * I really should have learned by now. Oh well, mebbe I'll finish this one, neh? YES I SHALL!!! Ahem. Anyways, here are a few warnings for you all: This story involves yaoi. (1x2, of course, and maybe 3x4 in later chapters, I dunno) Yes, malexmale relationships. Got a problem with that? Don't read. Feel like flaming me about? Don't waste your time, I don't listen to narrow- minded idiots. Although if you'd care to flame me about the horrid-ness of the story, feel free, I'm probably much more critical of myself than you are. ^_^ Anyways, ON WITH THE STORY!!!  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own any of the GW characters... come on, you think I could come up with characters THAT interesting/despicable? And I don't know who owns the original idea for Beauty and the Beast, but it certainly aint me! I DO own Sage though, (yea, I'm the sorceress. just had to get my cameo ^_^) considering she's me.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A while ago, no one is really sure when, is when this story takes place. Somewhere no one remembers is where it occurred. And the people it occurred to? Well, let's just say most of them lived happily ever after. But now I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning, shall we?  
  
It all began one dark, stormy night. But don't most stories? I suppose, but this was a different dark stormy night. It had nothing to do with scary creatures coming to eat the hero. Well, it had to do with a Heero, but that's just a corny pun that we won't even get into for fear of angry critics pelting the author with rotten vegetables. Ahem. Anyways, on this certain dark, stormy night, an old beggar woman knocked on the doors of a very large and rather formidable looking castle. She huddled in her old cloak, shivering from the cold.  
  
The doors opened, revealing a warm, cozy interior. The blonde servant that had answered the door glanced down at the old woman, and blinked a bit. "Excuse me, was it you who knocked?"  
  
"Yes it was. I come to seek shelter from the storm.. may I take refuge here?" The old beggar woman glanced up at the servant, who flinched at her wretchedness, though did not turn her away.  
  
"I'm sure you can, I'll just have to ask his highness, Prince Heero, first.." The servant bowed and hurried away, but not before inviting the woman to stand in the hall. She accepted, gratefully, and stood in the warmth of the castle.  
  
"What is it?!" She heard a harsh voice yell from the adjoining room. A handsome young man strode in, his messy brown hair in his blue eyes. "What do you want?"  
  
"As I said before, I merely request shelter from the storm.."  
  
"No, I can't, I've too much work to do to accommodate guests!" The young man, presumably Prince Heero, crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm sorry, but you cannot stay."  
  
"I find it highly inhospitable not to allow me to remain.." The woman stood up a bit straighter, and some of her ugliness seemed to vanish in the firelight. "I only require lodging for one night, perhaps less if the storm stops.."  
  
"You cannot stay." She was cut off again by the Prince with no emotions. She could tell, by the look in his eyes. "Quatre, take this woman away."  
  
"Then you shall be doomed." The woman seemed to grow several inches, and immediately threw a coat of ugliness off her like a cloak. What appeared was a beautiful young woman with pointed ears, dressed in a tunic, leggings, a long brown cloak and a sword at her side. Her long brown hair fell in her face as she crossed her arms, glaring at Prince Heero.  
  
"What.. what happened?" Even lacking any outward emotion, Heero could not conceal his shock. "Where did the old woman go. Who are you?!"  
  
"There was no old woman." The pointed-eared one replied, a fire seeming to burn in her eyes. "That was I in disguise, testing you. You have not passed the test, therefore you shall be punished." Prince Heero did not seem frightened, he just braced himself, as if prepared for whatever she could throw at him.  
  
"I am not afraid of what you plan on doing." His voice was cold. "I can withstand any torture you put forth." Quatre, on the other hand, was not too sure. He looked incredibly frightened, but put on a brave front.  
  
"Your highness! Apologize, please! I do not wish you to be harmed.." Heero held up a hand, silencing his servant. Quatre gulped, but shut his mouth. Another servant ran quickly up, placing a hand on his shoulder. This one had hair that completely covered one eye, how he managed not to run into things was a wonder. But anyways, back to the story. (a/n- come on, this is supposed to be serious, damnit!)  
  
"There is nothing that can save him now." Power crackled around the young woman's hands, which she raised and pointed at the cold Prince. "As you have acted to me, so shall you feel others act to you. You shall become as wretched looking as I was portrayed, a hideous beast. You shall remain that way until you can learn to feel your emotions, more importantly, to love." Power jumped from her hands to Heero, and he suddenly began convulsing in pain. He opened his mouth to scream, though no sound came out, and started to change.  
  
His shirt ripped open, revealing skin covered in dark brown hair beneath. His entire body transformed to exactly what the young woman had said, a hideous beast. Prince Heero stared at his hands, no, paws in disbelief. "This. this can't be happening. to me.. NO!!"  
  
"It is happening. It is all to real." The young woman turned with a swish of her cloak, and began to leave. "Remember what I said. you shall remain like that until you have learned to love, and earned that one's love in return. The punishment fits the crime." Stepping out the doors, she seemed to disappear into the night. Her words drifted back over the night breeze.. "Only then will you return to your true form. Or. is this the form you were meant to be? Only you can decide."  
  
The beast that once was Prince Heero sat, huddled on the floor of the entryway of his castle. He stared at the ground, at his new body, absolutely repulsed with himself. This. this couldn't be real.. it wasn't happening. A glance to where his servants had previously been confirmed him it was all too real. "Quatre... Trowa? What has she done with you?"  
  
"Made us invisible, it appears." Trowa replied his, abnormal hair not visible, along with the rest of him. (a/n- I'm sorry, you just CAN'T not mention the hair, no matter HOW serious the story..) "But we shall remain with you, until you are back to normal." Quatre nodded, but the realizing he couldn't be seen, he voiced his assurance. The two hurried off to inform the rest of the servants, who had also undergone the invisibility spell, but obviously had no idea why.  
  
A few years later, in a town close by.  
  
A young man with long, braided brown hair and bright amethyst eyes (a/n- I just noticed, a lot of the people I write about have amethyst eyes. all right, only two, but still.. o_O) whistled as he walked through town. His black attire offset his cheerful attitude, and his long braid swinging behind him made the whole picture odd, yet pleasant. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he stared in one of the shops, not really interested, but needing something to do.  
  
"Hi Duo, what's up?" The braided man groaned, recognizing the voice as one of the only things that could ruin a good day for him. Relena, that greedy bitch that was after him because of Father Maxwell's authority.. What was with that girl?  
  
"Hello." He returned her greeting with no real feeling, and continued on his way. He did have SOME shopping to do, they were running out of bread at home. Father Maxwell might have been one of the most looked up to men in town, but he was a bit absent minded. That was the problem with being taken in by a priest. Duo sighed, trying to ignore the ever-present leech behind him.  
  
"How's it going? Are you shopping? Do you need some company? I could walk with you." Relena stepped up closer, implying that she wanted to do a bit more than keep him company. Duo stepped away, trying to keep as much space between them as possible without actually running away.  
  
"No, actually, I'm fine." Why did Father Maxwell have to be so respected in town? If he wasn't, Duo would have no problems at all with Relena. Ugh. He groaned, entering the bakery and buying a loaf of bread as quickly as possible. Plunking down a few coins on the counter, he made his exit quickly and near-ran back to the church in which he lived. Relena was left behind, and remained staring after him.  
  
"I'll find some way to get you Maxwell, some way..." She flipped her hair behind her and walked away, thinking up other ways to get his attention.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Duo slammed the door behind him, praying he hadn't been followed. Kind of ironic, really, considering where he was. "Father Maxwell?" He called, striding through the main isle of the church. He passed the pews and opened a door at the very back of the chapel, which led to the small house in which he lived. Peering around to make sure Relena wasn't somehow following him, he slipped in the house, un-noticed. Setting the bread down on the table, he climbed up the flight of stairs that led to the small room that served as his quarters. Respect didn't have much money behind it. why couldn't that be enough to drive Relena off.  
  
Duo sighed, collapsing on his bed. He knew she hated him as a person. was it really possible to be power-hungry enough to want to live with a person you hated for the rest of your life, just to gain respect and authority over others? It made Duo sick to his stomach just thinking about how a person could be like that. Sure, he had done some despicable things in his past as well. being raised on the streets and all, but that was out of necessity.  
  
Running a hand through his bangs, the long-haired young man started thinking absently. He called himself death, though he almost lived in a church. Chuckling darkly, he shook his head. Shinigami... that was what he was, what he believed in. He'd seen people die. oh, so many people die. that was real. Death was real. everyone who seemed to get involved with him found that out. But. but he had never seen a miracle. how could he believe in that besides what Father Maxwell told him? His own best friend had died in his arms. where was the miracle in that.  
  
Thinking these morose thoughts, Duo eventually drifted off to sleep. A few hours later, the sound of a knock on his door awoke him. "Hm?" He muttered, not quite awake yet. He opened one eye, and glanced at the door. Someone knocked on it again. "Come in." He sat up, yawning. Father Maxwell opened the door, but did not come in.  
  
"Hello Duo, I've just come to tell you I shall be gone for tonight.." Duo stood up at this.  
  
"Huh? Why? Is something wrong?" His suspicions immediately leapt to the worst.. what was wrong..  
  
"Nothing, nothing is wrong." Father Maxwell held his hands up, trying to calm the young man down. "I have just been called to the next town over to give a child my blessing, that's all. I shall return tomorrow, don't worry."  
  
"Oh. well, all right. I'll see you tomorrow, then?" The holy man nodded. "Well, good night Father Maxwell."  
  
"Good night Duo." He left, shutting the door softly behind him. Duo heard the sound of the door opening and closing downstairs, and sighed. He had the house to himself for the night..  
  
"Good then." He collapsed into his mattress again. "Then I can go to sleep and not wake up till noon." He pulled off his clothes, and tugged on his pajamas. Going downstairs, he started thinking again. To call someone from the next town over merely to have a child blessed.. What exactly was the point? He shook his head, clearing away such thoughts. Who was he to judge beliefs? He fixed himself a quick supper, and ate in silence. After finishing, he locked the door and climbed back up to his room. You can never get enough sleep. He grinned as he shut his eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
BAM BAM BAM.  
  
"Uhn." Duo opened his eyes blearily, not quite comprehending what he was hearing. there it was again. sounded like someone knocking on the door. "What gives." Duo sat up, glancing around tiredly. Light streamed through the windows, it had to be morning. early morning. So much for his sleeping 'til noon plan.  
  
BAM BAM BAM.  
  
"All right, ALL RIGHT!!!" Duo yelled downstairs. "I'll be there in a minute!" He tumbled out of bed rather un-gracefully, tugging off the shirt of his pajamas as he went. Eventually, after much yawning, he was dressed and downstairs in front of the door. Glad he had forgotten to take his hair out of its braid the previous night, he peered through the curtains covering the small window on the door.  
  
He groaned, all thoughts of sleepiness lost in sheer frustration. Damn that girl, why couldn't she just leave him alone? Sure enough, Relena was standing outside, entirely too cheerful for this early in the morning. Unlocking the door, he opened it slightly. "Yes?"  
  
"Good morning Duo!" Ugh, even her voice was phony. Why couldn't she go bug someone else. "I thought I'd come and visit you on such a fine day! May I come in?"  
  
"Uhm, well.." He was cut off by the annoying woman shoving the door open and striding in. So much for politeness.  
  
"Thank you! It's really quite warm out there, do you have anything to drink?" She plopped herself down at the kitchen table, not waiting for an invitation. Well, she hadn't before, so what had he expected?  
  
"No, actually, I don't." This didn't seem to deter her though.  
  
"Oh, that's all right. Anyway, I came to talk to you about something.." Relena placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward. Duo remained standing, not caring how awkward it made him look. Anything to keep him far away from that. that thing. She hated him personally, couldn't she fine someone else with authority? Shimata. Duo thought, shaking his head. Relena looked at him quizzically, but kept going. "Have you ever considered marriage?"  
  
"M-me?" Duo was shocked, she usually wasn't quite this blunt. Hell, she had never gone far enough to talk about marriage. "N-no. not really.." Slowly, he started edging away, but it was too late, she had already gotten up and was at his side.  
  
"Really? Even with.." She looked up at him through lowered lashes, and Duo had to make an effort not to be sick. "Me around?"  
  
"Really, yea, the thought never even crossed my mind..." Duo slipped away, trying to put at least ten feet between himself and the leech. She was not to be thrown off quite so easily though, and was quickly glued to his side once again.  
  
"Well, if I were you, I think I would reconsider. I'm considering making an offer, one that you more than likely won't get equaled by anyone." Relena tried to wrap an arm around his waist, but Duo wasn't about to let her come anywhere near touching him. He leaped away again, dashing to the door.  
  
"Really, I'm QUITE fine by myself, and I really don't think I'll even be considering marriage for some time, if ever.. you know, I do have some things to do, so if that was all?" He opened the door, gesturing for her to leave. "I really should get things done before Father Maxwell returns."  
  
"Oh, he's gone?" Relena inquired mildly, obviously not interested. "I saw a note from him on the front door.. I suppose he wrote it before he left?"  
  
Duo was about to ask her what on earth she was talking about, but figured it just might be another plot for her to spend time with him. He considered lying, but that went against his morals. He decided just to skip the whole subject entirely. "Well, look at the time! I really do need to get busy, so why don't you go, and we can, uh, talk later?" Relena smiled, taking the comment entirely the wrong way.  
  
"Of course, Duo. I'll be waiting for you when you're ready to. talk." She strode out the door, making an extra effort to be sure Duo noticed exactly what she thought he meant. Duo groaned inwardly, and shut the door behind her. He peeked through the curtains, waiting until she was far out of sight before opening the door again.  
  
"Geez, how can I get it through her head that I hate her." He glanced over at the doorframe, wondering if her comment about a note had been true. Sure enough, a piece of paper had been stuck there, and had a note scribbled on it in Father Maxwell's neat hand. Duo snatched the note and held it before his eyes, reading it aloud. "Duo, I've been detained by certain circumstances, and fear I shall not be coming back. Please, don't come after me, and let the town know so they can appoint a new priest. I shall miss you. -Father Maxwell."  
  
"Not come after you? Like hell I won't!" Duo crumpled the note and shoved it in his pocket, running inside quickly to grab a cloak. He hastily wrote a note and stuck it on the front door for Sister Helen to read when she came to pay a visit, and hurried out towards the forest that surrounded the town.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Ugh, I'm beginning to think this was reeeeally stupid of me.." Duo muttered to himself, pulling his cloak tighter about himself for protection against the cold. He had been wandering out here for hours, and the temperature was rapidly dropping. After a few hopeless attempts to remember the way home, he found he was lost. "Damnit." The longhaired young man strode on, knowing better than to stop moving for long in this bitter cold. A flake of snow struck him in the face, and he cursed. There was no way he could survive a snowstorm out here all night.  
  
"Gotta... find. shelter." The cold was sinking in to his bones, making it difficult to move. Rubbing his hands along his arms to keep the circulation going, Duo made his way forward, never stopping, never resting. As he was beginning to lose hope, he caught glimpse of a dark shape up ahead. a building, perhaps? Yea, had to be. He increased his pace a bit, ignoring his tired muscles' protest. The shape grew cleared, and he was soon quite certain it was a building, quite a large one at that.  
  
No, not just a large building. this was a castle! "What the.. There are castles out here?!" Duo shook his head. Now was not the time to be questioning his eyes. Castles usually had rich people inside, and rich people usually had nice, warm rooms. Surely, they'd let him thaw out at least. Surely.. He staggered on, eventually coming to the front gates. Raising a hand, he banged on the iron. "HELLO!!" He called, his voice not carrying far over the snow. "IS ANYONE IN THERE?!? HE.." He stopped mid- shout as the gate swung open.  
  
"Ooook.." Again, this was not the time to question things. He hurried forward, trying to make it to the front doors before he collapsed from exhaustion. Using the last of his strength, he pounded on the hard oaken doors, hoping with all his might someone was at home. Again, no one answered, but one of the doors swung open, as if merely by his pounding. Duo didn't bother wondering this time, he just dragged himself inside and collapsed on the floor. He was vaguely aware of the door slamming behind him before everything went black.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Heero stopped in the hallway during one of his castle prowls. Nothing could stop him usually, his mind so bent on finding a way to change himself back to normal, but this was different. There, in his hallway, was the most beautiful creature Heero had ever seen. He was lying on the floor, passed out, and wet, covered in melting snow, but that did nothing to dim his beauty. A long, chestnut braid fell down his back, and bangs surrounded his heart-shaped face. He looked so perfect that Heero was afraid it was all a dream. No, it couldn't be, he never had dreams. "Quatre! Trowa!" He yelled, snapping out of his daze.  
  
"Yes, highness?" The two invisible servants inquired, standing at his side.  
  
"Get this man warmed up, and put him in one of the guest rooms." Heero was shocked by what he was saying. He didn't care about people enough to do things like this. what was wrong? But somehow. somehow this beautiful stranger had captured his heart just by being there. "Now, please."  
  
The servants' puzzled looks went un-noticed by Heero, considering he couldn't see them, but they carried out his orders as requested. The beast- prince himself stalked back to his rooms, wondering at this change that was coming over him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Duo sighed, feeling better than he had in a while. He was in a bed, an extremely soft and warm bed at that, and he was enjoying the feeling. Wait. that couldn't be. the last thing he remembered.. was. being lost in the snow. "What?!" The braided man exclaimed, sitting straight up. Sure enough, he was in a bed, covered with warm blankets. Not only that, but he was in a room decorated with such finery that it made him gape. Getting up, he noticed he was dressed in a long shirt, and that his own clothes were folded on a chair nearby.  
  
"What the hell..." He quickly got back in his own clothes, noticing they had been washed and ironed. Then it started coming back. he had found a castle.. the door was open, he had collapsed inside.. That was it then. "Wow, I must have found one hospitable castle.." But along with that knowledge came the memory of why Duo had been in the forest in the first place. "Father Maxwell!" He shouted, dashing out of the room. His long braid flew behind him as he tore through the halls, trying to find someone. He could ask.. maybe someone knew what had happened.. "Father Maxwell!" He shouted again, rushing down a spiral staircase which led to a rather cold, dimly light room.  
  
"Duo?" Came the soft response. "Duo, is that.. you?" The voice was weak, and appeared to be coming from a room who's door was covered in bars. Duo gulped. This was the dungeon..  
  
"Father Maxwell!" He exclaimed softly, rushing to the cell. "How did you get in here? What happened?"  
  
"Duo, I told you not to come after me. I.." Father Maxwell paused to cough, the sound echoing through the cold dungeon. "I specifically told you.. did my note not come..? But he said he'd get it delivered."  
  
"Whoa whoa whoa, hold it.. Yes, I got your note.. he who? Who's got you trapped here? What happened?!"  
  
"I.." Duo saw Father Maxwell's eyes grow round through the bars. "Duo, you need to get out of here, now! I don't want him trapping you here too! Go, now! Duo!"  
  
"Like hell I'm leaving! I'll find someway to get you out of here, just hold on for a second." Deftly, Duo pulled two lock picks from his braid, where he kept them hidden at all times. Sure, he had left his thief days on the street when Father Maxwell had taken him in, but you could never be too prepared. He quickly set to work on the cell's lock, muttering as he did so. "Now, who's got you trapped here.. ah ha!" The latch clicked open, and the door swung outwards. "Who put you in here?"  
  
Father Maxwell made his way out of the cell, looking very frightened indeed. "It was the master here, Duo.. I.. I trespassed, I didn't do so on purpose, a storm just came up and I.. I'm afraid I wrecked a few things while I was looking through the castle for the owner.. I was put here."  
  
"Yea, and? Why did you stop? What's the matt.." Duo turned and immediately saw the reason Father Maxwell had cut off his story. A young man was standing behind him.. No, that was no young man. sure, it had a man's eyes. but there was no way it could be human.. It was covered in fur, for one thing, and it was tall, very tall. Huge, sharp teeth protruded from its mouth, and its feet were definitely paws. Duo gulped and took an involuntary step backwards. "What. what do you want?! Who are you??" He stepped in front of Father Maxwell, making sure he wouldn't get hurt.  
  
"I." Somehow, it spoke with the voice of a young man as well. "I am the master of this castle. This man is my prisoner, why have you released him?" Duo could tell this.. thing wasn't exactly thrilled with his little rescue stunt.  
  
"Father Maxwell is needed at our town! He hasn't done anything atrocious, has he?" It was more a statement than a question. "Can't you let him go? He. he needs to be back at home."  
  
"He trespassed, and destroyed many things here." This beast obviously wasn't going to let Father Maxwell go easily. "He is my prisoner, he shall remain here."  
  
"But you can't." Suddenly, an idea dawned upon Duo. It was reckless, stupid even, but it just might save a life that mattered much more than his own. "If you let him go, I'll stay in his place."  
  
The beast seemed taken aback at this, and his eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Duo could now see that they were deep blue, and definitely human. Something was very strange here. "You would take his place..?"  
  
"Yes. Will you let him go?"  
  
"Duo, no, I'm not worth it.."  
  
"I shall release him. but you must remain. With me. Forever." Duo gulped again, but looked the beast straight in his human eyes.  
  
"You have my word. I may run and hide, but I never tell I lie. I'll stay in Father Maxwell's place."  
  
"Duo, please, no, reconsider, you've got a life yet to live.." Duo held up his hand, silencing the priest.  
  
"I'm staying. Please, Father Maxwell, you're needed more than I am back at town. You've been like a real father to me, and I thank you for all that you've done. Now, I'm trying to repay all your kindness. please accept." The priest looked rather sad, but nodded his head slowly.  
  
"Yes Duo. What shall I tell. everyone?"  
  
"I'm not sure. Try and think up something that won't make me sound to horrible, all right?" Duo grinned, trying to keep up a cheerful air, but failed. He sighed. "Good-bye, and thank you."  
  
"A carriage shall await you outside." The beast said gruffly. "It'll take you home." Father Maxwell nodded again, and clasped Duo's hand in his own.  
  
"Good-bye, Duo." With that, he turned and left, though Duo could see it pained him greatly to do so. Sighing again, he sat down on the stone floor.  
  
"Follow me." The beast's voice shocked him.  
  
"Huh? I thought.."  
  
"Well you thought wrong. Follow me. I'll take you to your room" Duo just shrugged and got up, falling into line a few paces behind the beast. "The. the castle is now your home. You can go anywhere you please. If you need anything, my servants will attend to you."  
  
"Oh, thank you." Duo, usually quite a chatter-box, was silent for once. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. Based on appearance, he thought the beast would be cold and cruel, but here he was, giving him free access to everything, including servants! Duo shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. They walked on for a few moments in silence.  
  
"So.." Every time the beast spoke, he was hesitant, as if not used to making conversation. Probably not, being a beast. Duo thought bitterly. "Why did you do it? Stay here, in his place, I mean."  
  
Duo was startled by the question. "Why?" He bowed his head, considering. "Well, he had more reason to.. to be free than I." He was going to say live, but he wasn't exactly sure how the beast would take that, and he definitely wasn't about to take a chance at insulting his new host. "He's our village's priest, and everyone looks up to him. Me? Who's gonna miss me?" He laughed bitterly. "I'm just the ex-street-rat that Father Maxwell took in out of pity." He toyed with the lock picks that were still in his hand. "People probably still consider me a thief, but don't dare say so out of respect for Father Maxwell. I just figure it won't matter if I'm gone."  
  
The beast seemed to let this sink in, and didn't reply. Duo, feeling boldened, decided that his host needed a name. "So. do you have a name?"  
  
"What.. a name?" Now it was the beast's turn to be startled. "Oh yea. Heero."  
  
"Heero." Duo repeated, lodging the name in his memory. "So, Heero, what's the deal with you? How did a." he considered saying beast, but he wasn't feeling quite that bold. "I mean, how is it you came by such a nice castle and all?"  
  
Heero stiffened at this, and his voice definitely took on a steely tone. "That need not be discussed at this point in time." He stopped in front of a set of ornate doors. "This is your room. Again, if you need anything, just call for a servant." He tugged open on of the doors, and Duo entered hesitantly. As soon as he was inside, Heero rushed off, hunched over as if ashamed about something. Duo watched him go, shrugged, and walked over to collapse on his new bed.  
  
"What the hell have I gotten myself into.." He muttered, rolling over on his back. "At least Father Maxwell is safe now." He ran his hands over his face. "That description more than likely doesn't apply to myself now though.." Although, the bea, Heero had only seemed particularly cold when the topic of his past had been brought up. "Huh."  
  
Glancing over at the nightstand, Duo caught sight of silken pajamas folded neatly on top of the oaken furniture. Blinking a bit, he stuck out a hand to confirm his suspicions. Yup, definitely silk. He whistled in appreciation. You HAD to be rich to be able to clothe your prisoners in silk. Still, running his hand over the delicate material, he just couldn't seem himself wearing something so fine.  
  
"No way." Shaking his head, he tugged off his clothes, remaining in only his boxers. Climbing under the covers, he noticed they were silk as well. "Geez, talk about wealthy.." Wondering again just how Heero had managed to come across such riches, Duo drifted off to sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"What the hell is the matter with me?!" Heero shouted, driving a fist into the wall of his long-since-trashed room. He tugged his hand-no, paw- away revealing a large hole. It didn't matter, the room was already decorated with several such holes. Although none of the previous had been made by the emotion that was demanding itself to be known to him now.  
  
"What the hell is that matter with me.." He repeated, though much quieter. He ran a paw through his hair, sighing deeply. Duo was.. was supposed to be his prisoner, wasn't he? Then why had Heero gone to such measures to supply the young man with such finery? He had personally made sure that everything at his disposal was of the finest quality. Why?  
  
Then he remembered how he felt when he first laid eyes on Duo. He had dismissed the feeling at first, trying to ignore it. But now, he felt himself being drawn by it to the room he had personally led Duo to. Halfway there, he finally realized where he was going, and stopped dead. "What am I doing?!"  
  
However, that feeling would not be denied. His feet, as though they had minds of their own, continuously moved forward, carrying him towards Duo's room. They didn't stop until he was at the door. He watched in wonder as one of his paws-hands, they were hands, under it all..- reached to push the door open slightly. Peeking in, he nearly fainted at the sight he saw.  
  
There, on the bed, lay pure perfection. Duo was wearing no shirt, apparently he had turned down the clothes provided. He had also kicked off the silken sheets, revealing his muscular torso. His hair had come loose from his braid while he slept, it appeared: it lay around him like a chestnut curtain. His arms lay loosely above his head, giving him the look of total relaxation. His face, no longer hardened by determination, was the most beautiful face Heero had ever laid eyes on.  
  
The beast-prince sighed deeply. So that's what the emotion was. He had fallen in love with his prisoner. No, Duo was not his prisoner. Duo was his guest. (a/n- no, that was NOT intended as a pun based on the Disney movie, I SWEAR!! PLEASE don't throw things at me!) Not wanting to disturb the object of his affections, he turned and made as if to leave, but doing so, he brushed against the door, causing it to creak. Hearing movement from Duo's direction, Heero tore down the hall, all the way back to his quarters and slammed the door, breathing heavily. This emotion was strange, it had made him want to remain, to be with his guest. He thought back to the night of his transformation. Was this really the love the woman had spoken of? No, he thought bitterly. It wouldn't work anyway, who could ever love me. (a/n- yea, now you know, it was all just a clever plot to get Heero and Duo together, mwa ha ha ^_^)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Duo sat up blearily, blinking a bit. Where am I. he wondered a bit before his memory came back in a rush. Oh yea, castle. Prisoner, right. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes, then noticed the door was open a crack. Odd, I could have sworn I shut it. Ah well. Clambering out of the ornate bed, he began to close it, but was met with resistance.  
  
"Excuse me Master Duo, but may I come in?" Duo glanced around rapidly, trying to determine where exactly the voice had come from.  
  
"Uh, sure.." While trying to determine the exact location of his guest, the title he had been given sank in. Master? Wow, he really wasn't kidding about the servant thing. Finally getting fed up with his search, he decided to ask straight out. "Ok, where, exactly, are you?"  
  
"Oh, I apologize." The voice was now behind him, and Duo quickly spun around. Still seeing no one, he blinked a few times. "You see, I am not exactly visible at the current time. nor any other time, really, at least not until.. Never mind. I just came to see if you required anything?"  
  
"Yea, a brief bout with reality.." Duo muttered, rubbing his face again. "Sorry if this sounds rude, but who are you and why can't I see you?"  
  
"I am Quatre, and as of now, your personal servant."  
  
  
  
Author's Note- Well, how was it? So far, two people have bugged me to post this thing, so I figured why not. Bah. If you like it, please do tell me, I need some inspiration to continue the thing ^_^ Oh yes, none of the other chapters should be NEARLY this long. The only reason this is so lengthy is because I wasn't planning on posting it anywhere and just make it one long, chapter-less issue, but, like I said, I've been told to post it by two people, and I couldn't find a better spot to put the chapter break anyways. Huzza. 


	2. Sparks fly, perhaps?

Author's Notes- Whee! I'm actually continuing this thing! HUZZA!!! ^_^ Yes, I know that this whole idea is ENTIRELY un-original, but oh well. You're still reading it, aren't you?!  
  
Silver- Who's reading it?  
  
Sage- Er, 'you' in the general sense. Wait, how the HELL did YOU get here?  
  
Silver- I'm here to make sure you actually finish this bloody thing, instead of stopping half-way through like you do with everything else.  
  
Sage- Aw, come on, I'll finish! Uh, make an effort to.. I'LL TRY ALL RIGHT?! Geesh.  
  
Silver- Good, now where did Relena go. *whips out a mallet*  
  
Warning- Yes, still 1x2.. what, you thought I'd change it?! Cri-mi-ny. Oh yes, there may be some mild 3x4, I haven't decided yet. Oh, did I mention Relena-bashing? Oh yes, plenty of that. ^_^  
  
Disclaimer- Yup, still don't own anyone from GW. I DO own Sage, so there. Nyah. (Silver owns herself, though I don't know why she gets in here.. she's just in the bloody author's notes. O_o) ON WITH IT!!  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
"My. servant?!" Duo's mouth hung open as his brain tried to comprehend what had just been said to him. A servant?! HIS servant?! Ok, he was definitely hallucinating. (a/n- again with the damned two l's.-_-) "You're kidding me, right?" Another part of his brain was still trying to accept the fact that the person with whom he was speaking was invisible.  
  
"Yes, your servant, and no, I'm not kidding." Duo whipped his head around, trying in vain to locate the speaker.  
  
"No offense or anything, but could you pick up something? This is insane, I can't tell where you are." Quatre picked up the silk shirt which Duo had neglected earlier.  
  
"Better?"  
  
"Er, kinda." Duo was now being un-nerved by the floating shirt. "Ugh. Ok, that aside, why on earth do I, a prisoner, have a servant?!"  
  
"But you're not a prisoner." Quatre's frown went un-noticed by the braided youth, considering it wasn't visible. "You are a guest here, and I was appointed to you to make your stay comfortable.."  
  
"Guest?! Comfortable?!?" Duo sat down on the bed, hard, and put his head in his hands. "If you don't mind, I'll just sit here, trying to figure all this out for the next hour or so." His mass of hair fell forward, completely concealing his face from view.  
  
"Um." Quatre finally decided just to ignore the statement. "Master Duo, why aren't you wearing the clothes provided?" A bright amethyst eye peered out from the curtain of chestnut hair.  
  
"Are you kidding?! Those things are silk! The likes of me don't wear silk." Duo frowned. "Especially when you have a past like mine. The money for silk could have fed me for a year a little while ago." Quatre bit a lip, trying to decide how to respond.  
  
"I apologize for making you uncomfortable.. Is there a material you would prefer? I'm sure his highness has anything you would care for.." Duo stood up suddenly, making the invisible servant jump slightly.  
  
"That's another thing, why is this Heero person taking such good care of me?! I'm supposed to be a prisoner, but I'm in a room grander than anything I've ever imagined, presented with silk clothing, and now a personal servant!"  
  
"I TOLD you, Master Duo, you are NOT a prisoner. " Quatre sighed in exasperation. "You are an honored guest here, and are meant to be treated as such. As for why his highness has decided this, that is something I'm not aware of. No offense intended, I truly believe that you deserve it.."  
  
"Oh, drop it." The servant was taken aback by the tone of Duo's voice. "I'm just some guy who was stupid enough to go searching for someone in the middle of a blizzard, not to mention I've no decent past and nearly nothing to my name. I DEFINITELY don't deserve ANY of this."  
  
Quatre decided to take another approach. "Yes, you do, because the master of this castle has said so. Now, if you would stop having such a negative attitude about this, I'm sure you'd see reason." Duo rubbed his temples, scrunching his eyes shut.  
  
"Negative attitude? Who has a negative attitude? I'm being truthful, not negative. You could throw me in a cold, damp cell and I'd still make an effort to be positive." He gave a glare in the general direction of the floating silken shirt, hoping he was looking at the servant's face. Promptly, his stomach growled, loudly, ruining the whole effect.  
  
"Oh! I had nearly forgotten! His highness has requested that you join him for dinner! Judging by the complaints your stomach is making, I take it you won't disagree?" Quatre bit a lip, sincerely hoping that the long-haired youth would not choose to be stubborn.  
  
"Like I have a choice?" Duo scoffed, sitting back down on the bed.  
  
"Of course you have a choice."  
  
"Riiiiight. Well, in any event, I suppose I'd better go." Quatre grinned delightedly, though is expression was only known to himself. "I don't have to wear those clothes, do I?" The blonde's face fell faster than previously thought possible.  
  
"Well, Master Duo, as you have noticed, the clothes you arrived in are pretty worse for wear, and, er, I believe it would be more fitting." Duo waved a hand, cutting him off.  
  
"Fine, FINE! I'll wear it." He shot another glance at the shirt, taking note of it's pastel blue color. "You wouldn't happen to have anything in black, would you..?"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Your highness, you are going to wear a hole in the floor if you continue with your pacing." Trowa stated mildly, invisible eyes following his master's trek back and forth across the dining room.  
  
"Don't be stupid, it would take more than me walking around to go through this floor." Heero shot back. Sighing, he resumed his pacing.  
  
"But sir, I believe that the carpet isn't used to the stress.." Another voice added. The prince glanced down, noticing that there was indeed a very ragged looking stripe in the middle of the carpet he was on. Taking a large step to the side, he began to walk back and forth on the wooden paneling instead. "Your highness.."  
  
"No, Wufei, I will NOT simply sit down. I've told you that."  
  
"Your highness, may I inquire as to why you are so nervous?" Heero, long used to invisible servants, had tuned his hearing to be able to locate them by sound alone. He turned and glared at Trowa, who immediately regretted asking the question, but didn't take it back.  
  
"Who said I was nervous?" The beast-prince stopped pacing and tried to put on a casual air. It didn't do much for him.  
  
"It's.. well, your grace, I have not, in my recollection, ever seen you act like this." Wufei nodded his agreement, and Trowa decided to be daring and continue. "And how you have been acting towards the. guest.. It's almost as if.." The invisible servant made the decision that he wasn't quite daring enough after all.  
  
"What, exactly, are you implying?" The steely tone in the prince's voice made both servants gulp and pale slightly. Trowa wished that Quatre were there as well, he could usually calm their master down without blood shed.  
  
"N-nothing sir, it's just that.." Wufei mentally smacked himself on the head for saying anything. "We find it.. incredibly.. kind and generous of you, highness, to take such great lengths to accommodate the prisoner.." The servant blanched as he realized his mistake.  
  
"He is NOT a prisoner." Heero hissed, prussian blue eyes narrowing to mere slits. "I have told you that, repeatedly. If you ever-"  
  
"Yes, sir, please forgive him." Trowa butted in. "We know perfectly well that the young man is your guest, it was a mere slip of the tongue, I assure you." He heard the door handle turning across the room. "Ah, it appears your guest has arrived. We'll just go serve the food, shall we?" He grabbed Wufei by the wrist and hauled him off to the kitchen before he could get himself in deeper trouble.  
  
Heero, on the other hand, forgot everything else when greeted with the fact that his guest had arrived. With a panicked look, he quickly made his way to his seat and sat down in the most civilized manner he could muster, and tried to look dignified.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Here you are, Master Duo." Quatre smiled and pushed open the door to the dining room. Duo glanced at it warily, then down at himself.  
  
"Are you sure about this? I mean." Quatre grabbed him by the arm, cutting off whatever he had been about to object with. Gently, the servant tugged the braided youth in the room, shutting the door behind them. Duo's eyes widened at the abrupt change of location, and immediately lowered his gaze to his feet. He locked his hands behind his back, really wishing he were somewhere else at the moment. He again took note of the form-fitting black tunic and leggings Quatre had selected for him, and severely hoped the servant hadn't been lying when he said that the young man looked stunning in the outfit.  
  
"Good evening." Heero's soft greeting made Duo forget his thoughts. Gulping, he glanced up to meet his host eye-to-eye. He blinked a bit, eyes adjusting to the bright lighting from the crystal chandelier above. Again taking note of his host, he noticed that he didn't look as horrible as he remembered. In fact, if you just looked at his eyes. His eyes were amazing, a deep prussian blue that Duo could drown himself in if he looked too long. They were also human, something to drive a suspicion into his mind that Heero had not always been so beast-like.  
  
Meanwhile, Heero himself was having an extremely difficult time tearing his eyes away from the long-haired young man in front of him. Quatre really knew quite a bit about clothes; the outfit Duo was wearing accentuated his slim but muscled figure nicely. Heero couldn't help but wonder how the youth's chestnut locks must feel, along with why the image of him shirtless coming to mind repeatedly. Ugh, it was that damned emotion again. How could you fall in love with someone you barely knew? Easily, it seemed.  
  
Duo noticed the beast's eyes lingering on him, and immediately glanced down again, blushing. "Won't you have a seat?" He nearly jumped at the invitation, and felt Quatre nudging him from behind to go and sit down. Heart beating rapidly, he made his way over to an ornately carved chair and sat down, placing his hands in his lap and staring at them intently. "You are hungry, aren't you?" Duo was puzzled at his host's voice.. he sounded almost as if afraid he had somehow mis-pleased him.  
  
"Er, yea, I suppose." His stomach growled loudly again, confirming his weak statement. Quatre, apparently still standing behind him, giggled softly, and Duo's blush returned in full force. Heero nodded, then turned to glance behind him, where Duo could see another doorway. Almost immediately, platters of food began emerging from the doorway. Duo's eyes widened. Platters of food began emerging from the doorway by themselves. The logical part of his mind told him that they must be being supported by other invisible servants, but each and every other part couldn't help being shocked.  
  
The beast-prince noticed his guest's shocked expression, and leaped up to take a platter to the table himself, not thinking about anything but pleasing the braided youth. He set it down on the center of the table, of course not seeing his servants' nearly scared looks. He did, however, notice that Duo's shocked expression now rested on him, and he sat down sheepishly, realizing how foolish he must have looked.  
  
Duo, on the other hand, was about ready to burst with the stress level. That one antic was the thing that pushed him over the edge. It started out as a snicker, then a soft chuckle, but soon he was laughing aloud. He didn't think about the consequences he might suffer later for laughing at his host, he was just trying calm himself down. It worked immensely well, he was no longer nervous at all.  
  
Heero smiled slightly, noting that his guest's expression had changed to one of relieved glee. So maybe his antics hadn't gone un-appreciated after all. The two ate in companionable silence while a handful of servants stood around in wonder. No once noticed the black-clad young woman who had appeared on the chandelier above.  
  
"Good," the sorceress whispered to herself, grinning. "So it's working out the way I had planned." She disappeared as silently as she had arrived. (a/n- whee, I get another cameo ^_^)  
  
When the two had finished eating, the empty plates seemed to pick themselves up off the table and float back towards the kitchen. The logic part of Duo's mind was getting better at calming the other parts down, but it still took a few seconds. He quickly shook his head, helping that logical part out. Across the table, Heero was deep in thought about what to do next. He wasn't exactly used to entertaining people, especially people that he wanted to make a good impression on. Check that, very good impression. He had never wished so vehemently that he looked as he had before, and he had been wishing for a long time.  
  
"So, um, thank you." His guest's soft voice snapped Heero out of his thoughts.  
  
"For what?" Duo began folding his napkin up in different ways, trying not to look nervous. Apparently, doing nothing but sitting in front of the prince wasn't the most easy thing to do in the world.  
  
"Well, you know, all this.." Violet eyes looked into deep blue ones as Duo waved his hand at his clothes, the table, the entire castle. "I know I'm not a prisoner, but this is all far greater than I've ever been treated in my life. I just don't feel like I deserve any of it."  
  
"Of course you do." Heero mentally smacked himself for such a bland statement. "How could you think otherwise?" A humorless smile graced his guest's face.  
  
"Easy. For the better part of my life, I was a street rat. I was abandoned. I don't know when, but I can't remember anything before just being another homeless kid. I never had anything, and most of the town hated me because, well, I had to steal to keep alive. Even when I was taken in by Father Maxwell, I wasn't exactly wealthy." Duo shook his head slightly. "No, not going for pity here, I don't want it. I'm just trying to explain that this is all something that seems like a dream. For the longest time, a full meal would have been paradise. And look at what you're giving me. I just don't think I'm the right person for any of this."  
  
The beast-prince blinked. There was more to his guest than he had first thought. And all through the description of his life, he kept an even voice. Not a trace of sadness or whining. Just an explanation. Heero couldn't believe that anyone could talk about something like that so calmly. His first reaction would have been to try and comfort the beautiful youth, but he didn't seem to need it in the least bit. Coming up with a response that sounded decent, he cleared his throat slightly.  
  
"Why should your past dictate who you are? It's done and over with. A person can change, and most people deserve much better than they receive. Much better. You're one of those people." Realizing how sappy that last part was, Heero immediately stared down at the table, not wanting to meet the puzzled violet gaze that he was sure was on him.  
  
Duo didn't respond for a moment or two, not quite sure what to make of his host's comment. The way his voice had sounded on that last comment might have led someone to believe.. No way. Duo rolled his eyes at the ludicrousness of the thought. He was definitely jumping to conclusions if he thought that this person he had just met was in love with him. But the look in his eyes.. His beautiful eyes.. Beautiful? The braided youth blinked. Where had that adjective come from? "You're a lot different than I thought you would be.."  
  
Heero glanced up, one eyebrow raised, and Duo immediately regretted the statement. "What do you mean?" Well, he hadn't sounded angry.  
  
"Well, some people.. Heck, people in general don't usually act so nice towards me. You're just.. Well, yea, different."  
  
The beast-prince blinked once, twice, trying to get the statement to process correctly. How could anyone treat such a beautiful apparition poorly? Not only beautiful, but courteous, intelligent, interesting, brave, self-sacrificing.. The list of descriptors ran on and on. "I see." That was the best he could do? 'I see'? Heero mentally smacked himself in the head. Repeatedly. Scrambling to think up something to make up for the brief statement, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Would you like me to walk you to your room?" Yea, great save. He mentally smacked himself a few more times.  
  
"... Sure." The response made Heero quit his mental barrage and glance up. Duo looked a bit uncertain about his answer, but not like he was regretting it. Perhaps the beast-prince was making progress after all..  
  
"All right then." He stood and made his way over to his violet-eyed guest, not sure what to do next. Duo unknowingly saved him by getting up swiftly, and the two exited the dining room silently.  
  
"Did you see that?!" Wufei asked anyone who was listening, gaping at the retreating pair. "How polite he was being? I didn't think it was possible!"  
  
"Of course it's possible." Quatre replied softly, smiling. "He just needed the right person to bring out his better side, that's all."  
  
"Right person?" The black-haired servant raised an inquiring eyebrow. "What exactly are you saying?"  
  
"Saying? Nothing besides what you heard.." He jumped slightly as Trowa wrapped both arms around his waist, then rested his chin on the smaller man's shoulder. (a/n- yea, so, there's 3x4 after all, I suppose.. Very little though, we need to keep the focus on 1x2 here people!)  
  
"I know what you're saying, koibito." He whispered softly into the other's ear so Wufei couldn't hear. "You think that his highness is falling in love with his guest, neh?"  
  
"You must have read my mind."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So, do you like it here? I mean.." Heero nearly groaned at the bluntness of his statement, and Duo couldn't help but laugh slightly at his host's awkwardness.  
  
"The castle?" The prince nodded sheepishly. "Of course, it's the nicest place I've ever been by a long shot. A very long shot." He thought for a moment, then decided to add to his comment. "And the company isn't bad either.  
  
Heero blinked, realizing his guest had made a joke. He smiled, then actually began to laugh, something he hadn't done since.. Well, he couldn't remember when. Duo smiled as well, glad he could make his host laugh. His laugh was nice too, he would have to find a way to make it show itself more often. The two reached the ornate door that led to Duo's room, and stopped.  
  
The beast-prince looked down at his feet, really not sure what to do at this point. He gulped, deciding to try and wing it. "Well, good-night."  
  
"Good night, Heero." Duo opened the door, shot a smile at Heero over his shoulder, then disappeared within his room. The transformed young man sighed, relieved he had said the right thing. With one last glance towards the object of his affection's current residence, he made his way back towards his own rooms, thinking about the youth the entire way.  
  
"Well, that wasn't so bad." The braided youth said to himself, grinning crookedly. "Definitely had worse nights." He yawned, realizing he was still exhausted from his stupid stunt in the woods. Tugging off the black tunic, he climbed between the silken sheets of his bed and fell asleep, for some reason dreaming about deep blue eyes.  
  
Author's Notes- Ugh, sorry folks, that's about as long as I could make this chapter without having my head explode. I'm trying to write too many things at once.. _  
  
Yami- You SHOULD be writing one of those nice limey fics with me and my Aibou in it..  
  
Oh, can it you. I've been writing nothing but YxY fluff lately, and you still owe me for getting you out of wearing a dress. (long story, don't ask) Anyways, I might not have an update of this bugger for a while, I'm trying to update Transfer Students quite a bit, not to mention finals are coming up VERY soon.. Sigh. Dreadfully sorry, I try, really I do. 


	3. Dreams and breakfast

Author's Notes- I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish, I will finish..  
  
Duo- Er, Sage? What're you doing?  
  
I will finish, I will.. hm? Oh, chanting a mantra. Nothing else seems to help, can't hurt to try.  
  
Duo- Oh, right.  
  
Ok, so, anyways, I'm really going to make an effort to finish this thing, I swear! I'm DYING to write the ending, no matter how hard it'll be. I'm willing to sacrifice my sanity to make it incredibly fluffy for you all, aren't you thrilled? Yup, but unfortunately, we still have quite a few chapters between then and now. So, enough stalling, ON WITH IT!!!  
  
Disclaimer- Nope, don't own any Gundam Wing characters, not one. Not yet anyways.. *evil laughter* I do own Sage however, so that's something.  
  
Warning- Ya know, these things are getting tedious.. -_- Yes, still 1x2, and mild 3x4. You really should know that by now.. O_o  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Heero blinked. He was standing in the middle of a green field, alone. As far as he could see, it was only waving grasses and a few shady trees. He blinked again. Wasn't it the middle of winter..? It didn't seem to be, it was quite comfortable out, and he could feel a warm breeze on his skin..  
  
Skin.. Skin?!? The prince hurriedly glanced down. Sure enough, he was not coated in fur. In fact.. He was back to normal. He looked exactly as he had before that sorceress had cursed him all that time ago. Hands shaking, he reached up to feel his face. His fingers met soft skin, a normal nose, tender lips. He was indeed himself once again. "What's going on?"  
  
Hearing a movement behind him, the youth quickly turned, realizing he wasn't quite as alone as he had thought. What met his eyes was nearly as shocking as the fact that he was no longer a beast. Duo, his beyond beautiful guest, stood before him, hair unbound and dancing in the breeze, a smile gracing his features. He was clad in a loose pair of pants and a sleeveless shirt, which would occasionally flap in the breeze, revealing a tantalizing section of his midriff. "Duo.."  
  
The other's amethyst eyes flashed happily, but he said nothing. His head tilted slightly to the side, as if inquiring why Heero was just standing there. The prince began to ask himself that question, and took a hesitant step forward. Duo's smile widened, and he seemed to beckon the blue-eyed youth forward. Heero took another step, then another, until soon he was running, eager to be near his love.  
  
He was close now, a few more step and he could touch him.. A few more.. No!!! Just as Heero was about to take the last step, closing the distance between him and the violet-eyed beauty, he could feel thick fur sprout from his skin. He froze in horror as he began to transform back into a beast. Even worse, Duo was slowly disappearing. He reached out with a hand that was quickly turning into a paw, pleading with the other not to go. However, he merely caught a last glimpse of the extravagant eyes before Duo was completely gone.  
  
Heero himself had turned completely back into a beast. He was alone, utterly alone, the subtle beauty of his location seeming to mock him. He sank to his knees, not realizing the change occurring around him. The emerald green grass was dying, crumbling into a brown dust. The trees dropped their leaves, soon nothing but shriveled twigs sticking out of the earth. Even the sun seemed to dim, giving the whole setting a forsaken look. "Duo... DUO!!!"  
  
"DUO!!!" Heero sat up quickly in bed, sweat making the fur on his forehead stick to the skin underneath. He breathed heavily, peering about at his surroundings. He was in his chambers, everything looking the same as it had when he fell asleep. "A.. dream." Shaking his head, the beast-prince got up, walking jerkily over to the window. Peering out, he saw snow falling softly against the panes. All more evidence it was only a dream.  
  
But perhaps a bit more? A dream with a meaning, maybe? Of course he had hoped from when he first laid eyes on Duo that the boy would be the one to break the accursed spell.. But could it truly be reality? Could someone so wonderful, so amazing ever love him? He traced a finger along the glass, feeling the cold through his fur. There was always a chance..  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Huh?" Duo sat up, blinking sleepily. It was still completely dark out, the only light a faint glow from the moon through the windows. "Did someone call me?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular, but considering he wasn't entirely awake, he would have been fine with the ceiling saying something in response. He blinked a bit more, trying to get the room to come into proper focus. Why did images of sapphire eyes keep running through his head..?  
  
Yawning, the braided youth stood. Wondering how his feet managed to move without commands from his brain, he slowly made his way over to the window. Halfway there, his brain kicked back into action and decided that bed was definitely the best place for Duo to be at the moment. Yawning again, he turned around, eventually collapsing on the soft bed. He shivered, realizing exactly how cold it was outside his bed with no shirt, and quickly burrowed under the covers.  
  
Once he was warm again, his mind promptly decided to be ornery and keep him up a while longer, thinking. Muttering darkly, the braided youth squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to fall asleep. Unfortunately, that had little to no effect. Sighing resignedly, he opened both violet eyes once again, placed his hands behind his head and turned to stare at the ceiling.  
  
This whole thing wasn't so bad, actually. In fact, he'd never been treated so well. He hadn't been lying at dinner, the fact that he would never permit himself to lie had a helping hand in that. He wondered vaguely why Heero had put so much effort into making him comfortable. Not that he didn't appreciate it, quite the opposite in fact. He was just slightly confused; shouldn't a beast be cold and cruel, shoving people in dungeons and the like?  
  
There were those non-beast-like qualities again. Duo thought about it a bit longer, then decided that Heero hadn't always been a beast. There was simply no other explanation. And his eyes were still human... His eyes... The braided youth could picture the deep blue eyes, dark and mysterious with a certain alluring quality... Beautiful eyes... He blinked rapidly. What on earth was he thinking? Whatever it was, it must not have been processing correctly. Although, he couldn't help being attracted..  
  
"Whoa!" Duo had to shout to try and knock some sense into himself. "I'm DEFINITELY tired.. Either that or I'm going absolutely crazy." Rolling his own violet orbs, he rolled back over, intent on falling asleep and soon. "Attracted.. Geesh." He tried to ignore the weight his own mind put behind the statement.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Master Duo?" Quatre peered into the amethyst-eyed youth's room, wondering whether he should just barge in or wait for an invitation. Wanting to remain polite, he chose the second option. "Master Duo? Are you awake? May I come in?" He got some muffled muttering in reply. Guessing that was the best reply he was going to get, the blonde servant shrugged and pushed open the door.  
  
Quatre walked over to the bed, not seeing Duo, but there was a large lump in the covers that he was pretty sure hid the boy. As he stopped by the side of the ornate piece of furniture, the afore-mentioned lump moved a bit, and a sound rather like an irritated groan emerged from somewhere near the head of the bed. A head peeked out under the covers, and Quatre eventually caught sight of two violet eyes looking out from behind mussed bangs. "Whatchu want..?"  
  
"For you to get up, of course." Duo looked back and forth, trying to figure out where exactly the servant was standing. The fact that he was still half- asleep didn't help matters at all. Quatre finally felt sorry for the youth, and tapped him on the shoulder. "I'm right here."  
  
"Oh, right. Good night then." The head immediately retreated beneath the thick covers again, and the lump ceased moving. Wondering whether to burst out laughing or pull his hair out screaming, Quatre poked the part of the lump where he assumed Duo's back was. He didn't get a response.  
  
Frowning, the servant poked the lump again, harder. Another irritated sound, however muffled, made its way to his ears, and the lump scooted away from his reach. Quatre, realizing there was no other way to do this, steeled himself for the yelling that was sure to come afterwards. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed one end of the blankets firmly, and tugged. The bed was bare except for a pillow and a now shivering Duo.  
  
"HEY NOW!!!" The youth shouted angrily, fulfilling Quatre's expectations. "WHAT GIVES?!?!" He tried to grab his coverings back, but Quatre stepped backwards out of his range. Muttering, the amethyst-eyed one wrapped his arms around himself in attempts to keep warm. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't believe that stealing my covers is on the top of the "Top Ten Polite Things To Do" list."  
  
"Well, neither is staying in bed when I asked you politely to do otherwise!" Quatre explained, rolling his eyes. The latter action wasn't noticed by any party other than himself, of course, but he didn't really care. "Now, would you please get up and get dressed?"  
  
"Gimme one good reason." Thinking it was unexpected, Duo made another attempt at retrieving his blankets. Again, his efforts were foiled. "Ok, give me a reason besides the fact that you have my covers."  
  
"Because.. Well, because Master Heero is up, and he has requested that you eat breakfast with him." Well, it wasn't completely a lie.. The servant was sure that the beast-prince would enjoy anything having to do with being near his guest. He was replied by a grunt, and had to jerk the covers out of Duo's reach one last time before the braided youth finally gave up, and got up. (a/n- for all you perfectionists out there, I MEANT to put two phrases with 'up' right next to each other like that; if you say it right, it sounds good, so there)  
  
"You're lucky I'm too tired to argue any more.." He muttered, pulling a fresh black tunic from the closet Quatre had been sure to stock the night previous. Checking to make sure all his hair was still firmly in it's braid, Duo turned around, facing the floating pile of blankets. "All right, I'm up. Lead the way, Q-man."  
  
Blinking at the nickname, the blonde set the blankets back down, making a mental note to get someone to remake the youth's bed. He noticed belatedly that Duo would now be unable to follow him, and grabbed the other's hand lightly. "Ok then." Setting a quick pace, he led the amethyst-eyed boy through numerous corridors, until they finally reached a dining room, though different from the one the guest had already seen.  
  
"How many places to eat do you have, exactly?" Duo whispered, awed again at the excellence of the room he was being led into.  
  
"5 formal dining rooms, 6 luncheon areas, and the ballroom was used for eating on occasion if there was a large amount of people present..." Quatre stopped his explanation, realizing the braided boy's mouth had dropped. "Er.. Yea." (a/n- hmm, is that a good number of eating areas for a castle, do you think? I'm merely guessing here..)  
  
"Sorry I asked..." Violet eyes clamped shut as Duo tried to comprehend the size of the place he was in. Considering the mere prospect of a ballroom made his head hurt, he dropped it quickly. He glanced around, finally spotting Heero at the head of a large oaken table, reading something or other. When the braided youth stepped on a particularly squeaky floorboard, the beast looked up hurriedly. He blinked a few times, as if not understanding why he was no longer alone, but quickly covered up his surprise.  
  
"Er, good morning.." Heero glanced behind his guest, where he was sure Quatre was standing, grinning sheepishly. Mentally rolling his eyes, the prince gestured to an empty seat. "Hungry?" Duo opened his mouth to respond, but his stomach gurgled before he could reply. He clamped his lips shut again, blushing. "I guess so, eh?"  
  
"Um, yea.." Duo quickly took a seat, and helped himself from the platters laid out when his host gestured for him to do so. He was as shocked as he had been the previous night at the layout of foods. Heero, however, seemed to have barely touched anything, and indeed, he currently wasn't eating, just looking at the braided youth with a thoughtful expression.  
  
"So, do you like it here so far?" Heero sighed inwardly. His attempts at conversation were never anything spectacular, and were often just plain stupid. He really hoped his comment hadn't come across as the latter to his guest.  
  
Duo gulped down his mouthful of bacon, considering. What exactly was he supposed to respond with? 'Oh, why yes, this has all been the best time of my life, thank you!' or perhaps 'No way in hell, I'm a prisoner!' Well, maybe the latter was out of the running. Although, thinking about it, he would never have said that anyway. He never lied, and it hadn't been that bad. In fact, so far, he was sort of enjoying himself, in a way. He had never been pampered in his life like this, and had certainly never had access to all the food he wanted, and that was a plus all in itself. When you're a street rat most of your life, you learn to appreciate the value of food.  
  
So, all things considered, his answer was the blunt truth. "Yea, kinda." Duo winced. What on earth was that? You don't say a meager two-word reply when your host asks you if you're liking your stay.. Well, maybe you did, he wasn't really clear on that point. Heero seemed to be satisfied with the answer, so it wasn't unacceptable, anyway.  
  
"I see. Is there anything you need at all, anything I can get you?" The braided youth blinked. That certainly wasn't the response he was expecting. His host had already gone so far out of his way to see to it that his stay was pleasant, and now he was offering to do more? But why...?  
  
"Er, no no, that's all right, I'm fine.." Duo started folding his napkin repeatedly, focusing intently on it. There had been something in those sapphire eyes.. He had seen it, he had agreed with it, he had.. The violet- eyed boy mentally slapped himself across the face a few times. What on earth was he thinking? But still, excepting their initial meeting, Heero was near-perfect, other than his appearance.. Duo quickly shook his head. He was falling for a beast. Plain and simple.  
  
The beast-prince tilted his head slightly. He wanted to do something for his guest, something that would make him happy. A part of his mind was screaming at him that he was about to take a plunge, but Heero didn't care. He was poised over the deep water, and was not afraid to dive in. (a/n- dear lord, now I've stooped to using metaphors.. WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?!) "Nonsense, you can't merely sit around all day!" Heero mentally groaned. Great, now he had backed himself into a corner. What next?  
  
"Guess not.." Duo's voice was quiet, as if he wasn't sure he should be responding. He glanced out the large window, behind which the sun was shining pleasantly. It had stopped snowing in the night, clouds retreating and leaving a perfectly clear, blue sky in their wake. The effect made the outdoors look very appealing. "Could I.. I mean, well, I could go outside.. You know, play in the snow or something.." The braided youth wondered if anything he said had been somewhat clear. He had mumbled the entire thing somewhere in the direction of his lap.  
  
Heero raised his eyebrows, trying to decipher what had been said to him. When he had worked it out, he gave a slight nod. "If that is what you desire, I see no reason why not." A few thoughts crossed his mind about what he himself desired, but he quashed them down to pay heed to the object of his affections. Yes, he had definitely dived deep. (a/n- not ONLY do I write a metaphor, it comes back repeatedly to haunt me! ARGH!!!)  
  
The guest's violet orbs were trained downwards, but he managed a brief nod. Why had the other's voice granting him a favor struck such a chord inside him? It was as if he had just been given the world. Still wondering what on Earth was making him feel and act so strangely, Duo jerked slightly when his host spoke again. "Do you need warmer clothes?"  
  
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Duo blinked a bit, trying to clear his vision. The sun striking the snow filled his sight with blurring sparkles, making it difficult to tell what was moving and what was not. Raising a hand to shade his eyes, the youth looked around at the castle's yard. Most was a smooth expanse of fresh, white snow, and the remainder was brown patches that had gained refuge from the elements by being located under tall pine trees. A handful of other types of trees were sprinkled around; however, all were bare of leaves and provided no shelter for the ground below. (a/n- don't you just love lengthy descriptions?)  
  
An idea coming to his mind, the braided boy dropped to his knees, grinning wildly. This was perfect for something he used to do as a small child: building a snowman. Scooping up a handful of the snow, he molded it into a ball and placed it down beside him. He piled more and more snow on top of it, eventually getting a lump which he deemed large enough to be the creation's base. He repeated the process on top of this lump, and then again on that one, finally standing in front of a human-sized pile of snow, divided into three circular sections.  
  
In spite of having nothing to decorate the so-called snowman, Duo smiled. He never had anything to decorate his creations with when he was a child either, so it made the whole event just like old times. The smile was soon accompanied by a shaking of his head as he tried to remember exactly what the entire purpose of building a snowman was. All it seemed to have done was make his hands red with cold and deprive the surrounding ground of it's well-deserved blanket of snow.  
  
He didn't even notice the large shadow that was getting closer and closer to his back.  
  
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Author's Notes- Oooooooo, cliffhanger! Well, sorta..bah. It looks like one to me, all right?! Sigh.. Well, sorry about the semi-long wait and all, I haven't had much creativity in me as of late.. What a bugger. Especially when you have two stories that are causing people to threaten you with death if you don't continue soon. _  
  
Duo- Death threats?  
  
Yea, I think I've received a few on account of my never finishing things.. It's harder than it looks, geesh. DEATH THREATS ARE NOT BENEFICIAL TO THE WRITING PROCESS! *sobs*  
  
Yami- What's with her?  
  
Duo- *shrugs*  
  
Yami- Well, on account of the fact that Sage is having a mental breakdown, and that I'm in a story that isn't even Yu-Gi-Oh based and should have SOMETHING worthwhile to do, I'll finish things.. Ahem. The afore-mentioned blue-haired author needs to know if you people like this story enough for her to continue right away, because she has an idea for another, and quite a few more after that. Please, for Ra's sake, SOMEONE KEEP HER ON TRACK!!!! 


	4. Injury brings us together

Author's Notes- Well, due to the fact that certain people do indeed seem to like this story, AND the fact that I left my dear Duo about to be eaten, mauled, or whatever your imagination can come up with, I just had to continue.  
  
Heero- YOUR dear Duo? *twitch*  
  
Oh, keep yer spandex on. You know I didn't mean it like that, cri-mi-ny.  
  
Duo- Eh heh, protective Hee-chan.. ^_^'  
  
Indeed.. Now, lets get on with it, shall we?  
  
Disclaimer- No, still don't own any characters from Gundam Wing.. unless, of course, you're offering? *hopeful look*  
  
Warning- *is REALLY starting to hate these warning things* ARGH!!! You already KNOW about the yaoi content, and if you DON'T, then you've been skipping chapters, and that's just a big no-no. So, if you do know, this is getting redundant, and if you don't, go check the first chapter.  
  
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The bear stalked toward the youth, the only thing on its mind being food. It was gaunt and bony, driven half-mad by the hunger the winter had brought on. Stupidly, it had forgotten to store up enough food before the first freeze hit, and had therefore woken up too early. (a/n- don't mind me, just making every bear-person pull their hair out and scream at my incompetence, that's all..) It had been stumbling around in the forest for longer than its small brain cared to think about, and it seemed its search was at an end. It didn't care that he was about attack a human, the number one thing for a wild animal NOT to do, just that food was a prospect on the horizon.  
  
Duo hadn't the least idea any of this was going on behind him. One minute, he was still wondering who had made up the idea of snowmen in the first place, and then he was wondering why on earth someone had thrown a furry boulder on his back. The braided boy thrashed around wildly, yelling for all he was worth. His hands groped about for something, anything with which to defend himself. Frozen fingers finally closing on a rock, he swung his arm above his head.  
  
There was a crack as rock and bone connected, and the bear howled in pain, falling back off of the amethyst-eyed boy. Gasping for the breath that the animal had knocked out of him, Duo attempted to stand, still clutching the rock in his hand. He coughed, trying to clear his lungs of all the snow he seemed to have inhaled, and turned to face his adversary. The bear was bleeding freely from a wound on his head, but didn't seem to notice. Pain had combined with hunger to form a rage that was enough to drive it completely insane. Roaring, it launched itself at Duo once more, teeth bared.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Heero had seen the bear before Duo had, seen the creature slink up behind the beautiful youth. He had heard himself scream the other's name, but knew it was futile. Not thinking a thing about his own safety, the beast-prince bolted from the room, racing to the front doors of the castle faster than humanly possible. Some part of his mind was, for once, thankful that he was no longer human, making that description no longer hold up a barrier for him.  
  
Letting out a roar of desperation and anger, Heero thrust open the doors, taking no bother to shut them as he bolted across the snow-covered lawn. He saw the bear leap at Duo, and somehow managed to increase his already blinding speed. Thankfully, the braided boy managed to leap out of harms way; mostly. At the last moment, the crazed animal stuck out a paw edged in razor-sharp claws, slashing at Duo's side. Cloth tore, followed by skin, and the amethyst-eyed one yelled in pain, clutching at his side. Blood welled out between his fingers as he desperately tried to stem the flow with pressure alone.  
  
Prussian blue eyes widened with rage and Heero roared again, leaping at the bear. The next few moments was a flurry of fur, claws and teeth to his cluttered mind. When his vision cleared from the furious red it had been, the bear lay, dead at his feet, and Duo was off to the side, eyes clenched shut and blood still flowing freely between his now crimson fingers. Heero winced himself, seeing the pain on the youth's face, and quickly made his way over. "Don't move.." He sincerely hoped his voice sounded comforting, but he just wasn't sure.  
  
Bending down, he gently scooped the boy up into his arms, taking care not to jostle him any more than necessary. Slowly, Duo's beautiful violet eyes opened, and looked up into the face of his savior. Seeing Heero's sapphire orbs, he smiled weakly. "Thank you.." The words seemed to cost him, as he immediately clenched his teeth together, fighting back a scream. However, the beast-prince was already thanked enough. He would have jumped off a cliff just to be able to keep looking at the gratitude in those beautiful eyes.  
  
Cradling Duo gently, Heero walked back to the castle, taking great care to keep his pace even. He could see the bleeding hadn't stopped, but running would only jostle the boy and make his wound bleed even more. Thinking hurriedly, he ripped a strip off of his shirt while walking, bunched it up and held it to the injury. Taking the hint, Duo accepted the makeshift bandage and clutched it in his own bloodstained hand, holding it tightly to his side. He didn't make a sound as Heero carried him across the lawn and through the palace, not a whimper, not a whine, at which the beast-prince was incredibly impressed. It also managed to make him love the braided youth even more. He kicked himself mentally. 'He could never love you..'  
  
Shaking his head, Heero tried to clear such thoughts out of his head. All right, he had accepted that he was in love with Duo. Wasn't that enough? Did he still have to suffer, knowing the fact that his feelings could never be returned? It all seemed like a cruel joke.  
  
No, he had to focus on Duo now. Deal with his own problems later. Calling out loudly for Quatre to bring medical supplies, Heero gently laid the slender boy on an ornate burgundy couch in one of the many sitting rooms. In a few moments, Quatre dashed in, carrying a basin of boiling water, a cloth, and a few rolls of bandages. The beast-prince couldn't actually see his servant, of course, but there had to be some reason why the afore- mentioned items were floating into the room without visible support.  
  
Thanking the blonde quietly, Heero soaked the cloth in the water. Duo watched his actions with eyes half-lidded in pain, taking note the expression of fear mixed with compassion on the other's features. He was vaguely aware of a gentle command being given to him. "Duo, you're going to have to move your hand so I can clean the cut.." The loss of blood was making him a bit light-headed, but the braided youth managed to get a command to his arm to move his clenched hand away from his injury. Catching sight of it, he wondered at the deep red shade his skin seemed to be.  
  
Knowing it would hurt the boy, and wanting to get it over with, Heero quickly pressed the wet, steaming cloth to the open wound. Duo's eyes immediately widened to their full capacity, and he managed to contain the scream struggling to escape in a mere hiss of pain. He was completely awake now, perfectly aware of exactly what was going on around him. That was probably the only reason he didn't jerk away and lash out at the beast- prince who was cleaning the gash in his side.  
  
Heero heard the hiss (you would have to have been deaf not to at such range) and quickly began cleaning the wound, knowing the initial sting would wear off soon. The bleeding, thankfully, had slowed to a sluggish oozing, and the beast-prince was mostly focused on cleaning the cut and wiping off all of the blood that had soaked through his clothing and spread along the entire right side of the youth's chest. Soon, he realized that to do this, he would have to remove Duo's shirt. For once in his life, he was thankful he had fur. The boy couldn't see his blush as he voiced the fact. "You're going to have to take off your shirt.."  
  
Nodding jerkily, Duo shed his shirt, albeit slowly and painfully. Heero wanted to help, but it seemed that the braided youth didn't want any. Finally, the mangled and bloodied shirt was off, and Duo set it to the side gingerly. At first, his task of fixing up the boy was enough to distract the beast-prince from the fact that the other's lightly muscled, pale chest was exposed, but as he cleaned the last of the blood from the soft skin, he found he had quite a time keeping a lid on his emotions.  
  
Giving himself a quick mental shake, Heero snatched up a bandage and began unrolling it. A small part of his mind was curious as to why he was able to perform such delicate operations with such large and clunky paws, but a bigger part told it to shut up so he could concentrate. Duo, taking a hint, sat up straight, pulling his back away from the couch so he could be bandaged properly. The movement was slow and deliberate; the boy was taking great care not to let his injury start bleeding freely again.  
  
Quickly yet gently, Heero began to wrap the bandage layer by layer around the other's chest, covering the wound completely. He checked that each layer was tight, and kept wrapping until he could no longer see blood on the white cloth. Fastening off the end securely, Heero nodded and looked up to meet a pair of intense violet eyes. Somehow, they held his gaze captive, and he found himself never wanting to look away. He could drown himself in those eyes, and would, willingly, given the chance. There was something, something in the deep amethyst depths that Heero couldn't quite identify. It flickered brightly, then disappeared, leaving him to wonder if he had seen anything at all.  
  
A shiver ran up the back of Duo's spine. He could no longer feel the dull pain in his side, and whether that was due to the bandage or the fact that all of his attention was currently focused on the amazing pools of sapphire in front of him, he wasn't sure. He no longer saw a beast in front of him, indeed, he wondered where the idea of beast was coming from. He saw, instead, a young man about his own age with messy brown hair and determined features that were easily the most attractive he had ever seen. Check that, the entire apparition before him had no competition in looks anywhere, he was certain. Before he could begin to properly describe the gorgeous-ness in front of him, it flashed out of existence.  
  
Duo blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision of the stars that had taken up residence there. Yes, there were the amazing prussian blue eyes, but they were back in the face of a beast. This particular beast, however, was not as hideous as the braided youth remembered. Certainly not. He had a more human appearance somehow, and hadn't there been fangs before? Snapping out of his reverie, his gaze traveled down to the other's arm. "You're hurt!"  
  
The beast-prince blinked once, twice. He still seemed to be under whatever spell those eyes had seemed to put him under, and barely understood what the words exclaimed in his ear meant. As if in a dream, he looked over to his own right arm, where Duo's gaze rested. Indeed, there was a shallow gash there, which was bleeding sluggish onto the floor. "I hadn't noticed.." He reached for another cloth to dip in the now not-so boiling water, but was beat to it.  
  
Brain not really comprehending what his body was doing, Duo's hand shot out and grabbed the cloth. Soaking it thoroughly, he wrung it out and held it over Heero's arm. "Here, I'll do it.. Just hold still." Quickly, he pressed to cloth to the wound. The beast-prince didn't so much notice the pain, as much as he noticed that the other had gone out of his way to help him. Duo imitated what Heero had done to his own wound before bandaging it up securely. "There."  
  
"What about your injury?" Indeed, as soon as the braided youth's body caught up with him, he winced in pain. Slowly, he leaned back against the couch, a hand to his side.  
  
"Whoops." He tried to force a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. Love could make you really stupid sometimes.. Love? What? Where the hell had that come from?! Duo rapidly searched through his short-term memory banks, trying to confirm what exactly he had thought. Yes, love had definitely been somewhere in the formula. 'Great..' He thought bitterly. 'The blood loss is making me delusional..' Again, that annoying part of his mind pointed out the fact that that hadn't been the first time the topic of love had come up around Heero. Duo half-heartedly told it to keep quiet.  
  
"Here, let me carry you to your room." The violet eyed boy blinked at the offer.  
  
"But your arm!"  
  
"Really, I hadn't noticed it until you said something. I'll be fine."  
  
"I can walk.." Hesitantly, Duo swung his feet to the ground and attempted to stand up. He managed it, albeit a bit unsteadily, and smiled triumphantly. The smile was soon lost, however, as he took a step and nearly collapsed in pain. He did, in fact, lose his balance, but Heero was there to catch him.  
  
"I see that." Heero chuckled softly, warmly. Lovingly. Where had that adjective come from?! Duo mentally stored it away to deal with later, and went back to basking in the sound. "Still, with your superb walking skills, I think it would be better for you not to put them to use right yet." (a/n- could I make Heero any more ooc? Geesh.)  
  
"Hmph. I suppose." Duo tried to sound irritated, but ended up smiling broadly. Again, he was barely aware of the pain in his side. He was aware, however, that the color of the skin on his hand was definitely not natural. He held out the crimson appendage, scrutinizing it. Heero noticed as well, and quickly stooped to retrieve a third cloth from the bowl of hot water (Quatre had had to leave for more, pressing, matters, and had left the rest of the cleansing cloths in the water so as not to get dirty) and proceeded to clean the dried blood from Duo's hand and lower arm. "Thanks."  
  
"Mm hm." The beast-prince scooped the braided youth up completely off the ground and slowly began walking towards his room. Halfway there, he nearly had to kick himself to get back on track, and quickly turned to Duo's room. Luckily, the other hadn't noticed their detour. In fact, he was looking rather sleepy. "Tired?"  
  
Duo yawned widely. "A bit, yea." Unknowingly, he leaned his head against Heero's chest. "But I think that's reasonable, considering I was just attacked by a vicious woodland creature, don't you?" The beast-prince laughed, the first real laugh in a long while.  
  
"It does seem to have a strong reason behind it." The amethyst-eyed boy blinked rapidly. It had happened again, there had appeared to be an incredibly handsome young man in place of the beast. His gaze rose to the deep blue eyes. They always stayed the same. Not that he was complaining, he had, as before told, never seen such eyes. He wouldn't mind terribly spending the rest of his life staring into them.  
  
As they reached Duo's room, Heero made his way inside and lightly lay the slender youth down on his bed. Smiling sleepily, Duo caught one of the beast-prince's hands in his own as he drew away. "Thanks, again, for everything."  
  
"You act as if I had reason to do otherwise.." Heero replied softly, not entirely sure if the other had heard him. Slowly, the sparkling violet eyes he loved as much as their owner drifted shut, and the boy's breathing became shallow and regular. The beast-prince held onto his soft hand for a while longer, just gazing at the vision of beauty before him. Realizing he had been gawking quite long enough, Heero pulled the covers up around the youth and left silently.  
  
Unbeknownst to him, four servants stood across from Duo's door, not making a sound but observing their master raptly. As he left, they quickly turned to one another and began talking in hushed tones.  
  
"You were right, Quatre." Treize muttered, watching the retreating form of his master. "I hadn't much noticed before, but it's obvious."  
  
"So, you think it'll work?" Wufei asked bluntly. He was rather sick of being invisible; yes, the other servants could tell where he was (how, none were quite sure) but no one could really see him. The same went for everyone else that worked in the castle.  
  
"I see no reason as to why it wouldn't." Trowa's green eyes sparkled with hope, though no one could really see to confirm the fact. "We can only hope it does."  
  
"Of course it will, you bunch of pessimists." Quatre shook his head, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Of course it'll work. Just keep watching, you'll see..." The blonde paused. "Although we might be forced to, help, a bit, with getting them to realize.."  
  
Trowa's eyes widened considerably. He knew that tone. "Er, just what were you thinking of doing, koibito...?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know, something." The four quickly split up, Trowa trailing after Quatre trying to find out what exactly the other was planning.  
  
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Author's Notes- Whee, another chapter up, for your enjoyment! ^_^ Em, anyone have any ideas for what exactly Quatre is planning? I'm about as lost as Trowa.. Eh heh heh.  
  
Yami- You mean you don't have THIS story planned either?!  
  
Of course I have it planned! I just didn't know that one of the characters would suddenly pop out with something that would make me think about something that was not in the original plan! I have the ENTIRE last two chapters planned out to the last detail, thank you very much.  
  
Yami- Well, that doesn't help anyone now, does it?  
  
Well.. Hey, what are you doing here anyways?! This is Gundam Wing!  
  
Yami- I'm a pharaoh, I deserve more than author's note cameos just in Yu-Gi- Oh stories.  
  
-_- I think your ego has been hanging around with mine too much.. 


	5. The villain intervenes

Author's Notes- Ok, I really do need to finish this and quick-like…. I've the whole last chapter planned! I NEED TO WRITE IT BEFORE IT MAKES MY BRAIN EXPLODE!!!!

Yami- O_O *starts backing away slowly*

Oh, don't even, you're not a writer, you don't know what it's like! The ideas that worm their way into your head.… @_@ *falls over, twitching*

Yami- Well, since Sage's currently unavailable, I guess I'll say the disclaimer….

Duo- Oh no you don't! This is a Gundam Wing story!

Yami- *blinks*

Duo- Ahem…. Anyway, Sage does not own any Gundam Wing Characters, nor the original idea for Beauty and the Beast. She does, however, own herself (she's the sorceress in case you hadn't noticed). And there will be….

No! *jumps up* I'm SICK of putting warnings in! If they've gotten this far, they KNOW there's yaoi in this thing! I mean, it's right there in the description too…. Geesh. 

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Relena paced back and forth through her room, a rather unpleasant frown decorating her features. Tiring of this, she sat down on her pink bedspread. The frown stayed. To her, the reason for her foul mood was quite clear. Things were not at all going to how she had tried to plan them.

First of all, Duo had never showed any interest in her, whatsoever, despite her best attempts. The blonde girl scowled. He was the major component of her plan. She needed to have respect and power. She had money, yes, but in a small town such as this, it didn't get you much. People tended to ignore you, or at best, scurry out of your way when you walked in the streets. Money wasn't anything here without something backing it up. As of now, there was nothing. That's where Duo came in. 

Again, she scowled. Why was it that the only eligible young man with some respect backing him up was an ex-thief? Sure, no one held that against him now, he was about the nicest person you could meet, but still…. To Relena, it was like a broad scar. Healed, but still there. But…. She could get over that. She would have to, there were no other options.

But that wasn't really the main problem. Nor was Duo not throwing his affections at her like she had hoped. No, the real problem was that Duo had been missing for almost a week now, and Father Maxwell refused to say anything on the subject. Absently, Relena got up and began pacing again. It didn't make sense. 

Discovering this would get her no where, the girl spun on her heel and exited her room, slamming the door behind her. Walking determinedly through the halls of her large home, she called her brother's name loudly. "ZECHS!!! ZECHS!!!!" (a/n- yes, I'm terribly sorry, but that's the only part I could get the guy…. So sorry, Zechs-fans) She found the blonde young man sitting in the study, reading a thick book. "ZECHS!!!" Considering the close range, her voice was quite a few decibels above the appropriate level. 

"You needn't shout…." Sighing, her brother closed the book, holding his spot with a finger. "What is it?"

"I need your help with something." Zechs made a face.

"This isn't something else about Duo, is it? When will you leave the poor boy alone?" His sister's glare didn't affect him much, he had gotten used to it by now. "Well, what is it this time? Did he not talk to you at the bakery? Ignore you in the street?"

"For your information…." Relena growled. "He has never _ignored_ me. It's just slipped his mind that I'm nearby."

"Is that what you tell yourself?"

"Shut up." The girl was now talking through clenched teeth. "Besides, it has nothing to do with his attentions to me. Haven't you noticed, he hasn't been around much lately?"

"I just assumed he was staying at the church more, helping Father Maxwell and the like."

"So did I, until I went to visit." Relena leaned forward on the desk, eyes narrowed. "Do you know what I found out?" Zechs shook his head, looking as if he didn't care. He more than likely didn't. "He's been gone. For a week."

"So? Probably just went to visit the next village over." The blonde young man opened his book once more and made an attempt to read. It was foiled, however, as Relena placed a hand over the pages and forced the book down onto the desk.

"No. Father Maxwell wouldn't have avoided the subject if it was as simple as that." Zechs blinked. "He specifically dodged saying anything whenever I brought it up."

"What, exactly, are you suggesting?"

Relena's eyes took on a determined look, a rather unpleasant smile forming on her lips. "We find out what's going on."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duo was comfortable, more so than he had been in a long time. Even the silk-covered bed in his room could offer no competition. He was sitting next to Heero, and the two were reading a book in front of a roaring fire in one of the many parlors of the castle. He was sitting rather close, actually. Any closer, and he would have been sitting on the beast-prince's lap. "Done?"

"Mm." Reaching out, the braided youth turned the page. (a/n- yes, I'm taking this straight from the bleeding movie, but I'm sure none of you care…. What, you do? Bugger. Fine, I'll change the setting and quick-like, I don't like this idea much either) 

Quatre peered through the doorway at the two, grinning mischievously. He knew he was right. If those two weren't in love, then he was a candlestick. (a/n- ooo! Ooo! Did anyone get that joke? ^_^) He felt a chin rest on his shoulder. "Hi to you too, Trowa."

"What was your plan, exactly, koibito?" The other servant asked, green eyes trained on the same two people Quatre's were. "You're being very mysterious about it…."

"Not telling, you'll have to wait just like everyone else."

"Well, that's not very nice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Lift me higher!"

"I can't."

"Yes you can, you're just not trying hard enough."

"No, believe me, lifting you higher is not in the range of my capabilities."

"Fine, then let me down." Scowling, Relena stepped down from her brother's shoulders. She had been trying to spy into the window of Duo's room, but it had ended up being out of their combined reach. "All right, we need to develop a new plan."

"Why?" Zechs was getting sick of the entire thing. Not to mention his shoulders were now rather sore to boot. "What is wrong with you? Just drop it!" His sister spun on her heel, giving him a look. "Ok, fine, but leave me out of it."

"I'll need help at some point, now quit being difficult." Relena paused, chewing on a fingernail. Plans seemed to be evading her mind, no matter how she tried to grasp one. In reality, there wasn't much that she could do. Finally, she scraped something together. "All right, let me see…. We can go see Father Maxwell again…."

"We?"

"We. He'll feel more inclined to tell the truth if there are two people. Anyway, if he DOES manage to avoid the subject again, we can take more, well, drastic measures." Zechs groaned, not liking the tone in his sister's voice. "Come on." Muttering, he followed her as she strode around to the front of the house, fixed her hair, then knocked politely on the door. 

"Yes?" As expected, Father Maxwell answered the door. And, as expected, Relena barged right in. Feeling a nasty headache coming on, Zechs followed, passing a rather baffled priest on the way. "Excuse me for being rude, but is there a particular reason that you have chosen to visit me?"

"But of course." The sickening sweetness in Relena's voice even made her brother want to gag. "We've come to speak to you about Duo." Silence filled the room, only broken once by a nervous cough. 

"Duo?" Father Maxwell didn't look nervous, quite, just uncomfortable. Zechs even caught a hint of sadness in his eyes when the braided youth was mentioned. 

"Yes, Duo. I've noticed that he hasn't been around lately, and I was just wondering if he was all right?" The blonde girl's eyebrows rose in question. "Perhaps he has been sick?"

"Er, no…."

"Oh! Perhaps visiting a friend in a neighboring village?" Relena was pressing, desperate for some sort of solid answer. It was apparent she wasn't leaving until she received one, and this made the other two in the room incredibly nervous and/or disappointed. 

"Not exactly…." Father Maxwell was stalling, even Zechs could tell that. But for what reason? Surely there was nothing wrong that he was trying to hide, was there?

"Well then, I can't imagine where he has been…." Relena's expression was one of pure innocence. Too innocent, Zechs noted. It was too much, she was bound to be discovered. "Would you mind horribly if I asked outright?"

"Well, you see…." The priest tugged at his collar absently, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "It's just that…."

"Just that what?" Relena's voice had definitely taken on a demanding edge. "Answer me." Her brother was shocked; to use that sort of voice with Father Maxwell? That was going too far.

Father Maxwell looked around rather jerkily, now looking a bit scared, among other things. "If I tell you, can you swear to me that you will not spread the information in any way, shape or form?"

"Of course, I…."

"He's been taken prisoner." Both Relena's and Zechs' eyes widened at this statement. "It was…."

"He's been taken PRISONER?!" Relena exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. "How?! By who?!"

"I was just getting to that, although I'm not sure if I should be telling you…." Sighing, the priest sat down, looking as if he couldn't explain things properly while still having to keep himself upright. "You see…." He proceeded to explain the whole event, his getting lost and trespassing, Duo's search, and the braided youth's sacrifice. He failed to mention, however, that Duo did NOT wish to be rescued in the least, mainly because he didn't know. Completing his tale, he dabbed his forehead lightly with a cloth. "But, you musn't…."

"We have to go save him immediately!" Relena pounded a fist on the table, looking for all the world as if she would be the one leading the march. "We need to go to this castle and…."

"No, no!" Father Maxwell interrupted, looking incredibly frightened. "Like I said, you musn't! You can't tell anyone, you have to leave it be! This…. This beast is incredibly powerful! He could kill us all! Don't make Duo's sacrifice be in vain! He was doing it to protect everyone!" The priest wrung his hands.

"Father Maxwell, can't you see what needs to be done?" Zechs began in a beseeching tone. His attitude towards the whole situation had changed drastically after the explanation of Duo's location. "We must rescue him and destroy this beast! If we don't, what's to stop him from invading our village, killing people?" Father Maxwell seemed to consider this. "It must be done."

"Zechs is right!" Relena began pacing back and forth through the small room. "We're going to need to rally up the men of the village…."

"We?" Her brother blinked. "You're coming?"

"Of course I am! I must help rescue Duo!" The girl grinned mentally, thinking her problems were solved. If she saved the braided boy's life, there'd be no way he could ever turn her down. All the things that could go wrong didn't even cross her mind. This was turning out very well indeed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ha!" Duo shouted, chucking a snowball as hard as he could. As soon as it left his grip, he dove behind a tree for cover, laughing. He sat still, waiting for a counter attack. Nothing came. Blinking, the violet-eyed youth decided to take a risk and peek around the edge of his cover. He saw nothing but a vast expanse of snow. "Meh?" Temporarily forgetting the danger, he stood and walked a few steps away from the tree, scanning the surrounding area. "Heero?" He was answered by a snowball in the back.

"Ha HA!" The beast prince exclaimed, grinning triumphantly. He was having fun, the most fun he could ever remember having. He and Duo had been outside for most of the morning, and both were thoroughly enjoying the experience. 

The braided youth spun around, eyes narrowed. "Now that, my friend, will cost you." Bending down, he quickly scooped up a handful of snow and formed it into a projectile, but as stood back up to throw it, Heero was nowhere in sight. "No way, that won't work twice!" Spinning around once again, he threw his snowball at the creeping form behind him. "Take that!"

Heero blinked through a face-ful of snow. Hm, apparently his plan hadn't helped him. A new one was called for. Finally clearing his vision of the cold, white material, he glanced around for his adversary. He couldn't see the boy, but he could hear Duo laughing. He turned, preparing for a back-attack, but fell forward as something jumped onto his back. 

"Gotcha." Duo stated smugly from behind him. He was currently sitting on Heero's back. "I win."

"Mmph." The beast-prince replied. "So it appears."

"Nope, so it IS." Yawning, the braided boy rolled off into the snow. "And since I win, I say we go inside. I'm freezing."

"All right." Both young men (er, one young man and one young man-turned-beast) stood and began walking back towards the castle. Rather, Heero walked. Duo zigzagged around rather quickly, running circles around the other, until finally leaping up onto the beast-prince's back and catching a ride. 

"Ha ha, got you again." Heero just laughed. 

"Sure, but now you're in for it." Duo didn't even manage to get in a confused reply before his ride immediately began running at break-neck speed, causing him to have to hold on for dear life. Laughing, he wrapped both arms around the beast-prince's neck, managed to get a firm grip and enjoyed the rest of the ride. 

Reaching the castle doors, Heero managed to open and dash through without missing a beat, but soon collapsed in one of the main living rooms, feigning exhaustion. Still laughing, Duo let go and hopped off, crawling around to look the beast-prince in the eyes. "Hm, you all right there, Hee-chan?" It seemed to be a perfect time to try out the nickname; the other didn't seem able to immediately jump at his throat if it wasn't appreciated.

Indeed, Heero just opened his eyes and blinked a few times. "Hee-chan?" The braided boy laughed nervously. 

"Eh heh, yea…." A very small part of Duo's mind was wondering why he had made up an endearing nickname for the other, but it was just the part that hadn't caught on to the scheme of things. Every other part told it to shut up, and promptly decided to ignore it. Finally catching on, it realized what a stupid question that had been, and decided to keep its mouth shut from now on. 

"Oh." Heero blinked again. "Right…." He raised an eyebrow, considering. "Du-chan." Violet eyes widened in amazement, and the owner nearly squealed in delight. He desperately wanted to hug the other tightly, but knew that would probably get some odd looks and a few awkward questions. Well, awkward to answer anyway. Heero surely didn't feel the same, so it shouldn't be awkward for him…. Then again, he had made up a nickname, hadn't he? Hard to believe that it was just for the heck of it. Not to mention a number of other occasions and events that could not be merely coincidental. His thoughts were chased away as a lock of loose hair fell into his vision.

"Hm." He tugged the rest of his hair in front of his shoulders. Not only was it falling out of its braid at a rapid rate, the parts that were already unraveled were tangled. Sighing, he undid the rest. "Great, now I need a brush…."

"Quatre!" The statement was barely out of the violet-eyed boy's mouth before Heero shouted the command. Soon, a brush appeared to float through the air towards them, and Duo took it after shaking his head a bit. He thanked the servant before setting his attention towards his long chestnut locks. Watching intensely, the beast-prince fell into a sort of hypnotic daze, and therefore didn't catch the request before it tumbled out of his mouth. "May I?"

Duo blinked once before replying. "Oh, sure…." Inching over slightly, he handed Heero the brush before turning his back on the other, pulling his hair back over his shoulder. Remembering the delicacy with which the violet-eyed youth brushed and took care of his hair, the beast-prince went very slowly, never tearing at the tangles, but working through them methodically. Running the brush through the chestnut curtain, he nearly sighed in pleasure. Duo did. 

After each of the tangles had been gently worked out, Heero continued brushing out the soft hair. The owner didn't seem to mind much; in fact, he was quite encouraging the process with the soft sounds he occasionally made without realizing it. Eventually, however, the beast-prince realized that he was going to have to put a stop to this sometime soon, or there was a very real danger that he never would. Mentally sighing, this time in regret, he placed to brush down on the floor, and re-wove the chestnut locks into their customary braid, fastening them with the black hair-tie Duo had placed beside him. 

"Thanks…." Duo exhaled heavily, a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Well, he hadn't been holding it very long, that was for sure, so no big deal. Turning back around to face Heero, he realized just how close they were. A blush threatened to creep up his cheeks, but he managed to keep it down, just barely. He could feel his chest heating up. Or was that his heart, beating much quicker than usual? Whatever it was, that small part of his mind that had questioned things earlier certainly had no remaining doubts. The other parts promptly congratulated it on catching on, and quit ignoring it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes- Whee! Done with another chapter! Well, how did ya like THAT one? I even gave Zechs a part! Yes, yes, don't worry, Relena will be pushed off a cliff….

Yami- Pushed off a cliff?

Well, or something similarly painful. ^_^

Yami- Oh, I was just wondering if we could push Anzu off too.

Don't see why not, maybe she could be one of the idiot villagers that runs madly off the balcony, mistaking it for a room filled with things she needed to run at. ^_^

Duo- *blinks*

Hey, it made sense to me. SO! Once again, I find myself needing suggestions…. I still have no idea what Quatre's planning. Should it be a little ballroom dancing like in the Disney movie, or something totally different? Come on, I'm sure your ideas are much better than what's running around in MY head! Mainly because NOTHING'S running around in my head…. ^_^ Well, anyways, be a dear and review, would ya? 


	6. Nightime events

Author's Notes- Whee! Another chapter! Aren't you all so thrilled?

Yami- (unenthusiastically) Whoo.

Oh, don't be such a poop. You can't be the star in everything. Anyways…. This is the second to last chapter folks! Er, at least I think it is…. If you don't count the epilogue, or random ideas I may somehow get in the near future and desperately need to add on, therefore making this story much longer than previously intended, which will in turn drive me absolutely insane because I really need to get the last chapter and the epilogue out before my head explodes from the sheer force of the fluffiness that is stored in it….

Heero-….. Duo, I think you've finally met someone who could beat you in a talking contest. 

ANYWAYS…. As I said, if all goes to plan, this will be the second to last chapter. Next we'll have the loverly, oh so mushy ending that we all know and love, and the epilogue I have planned will, somehow, manage to be even MORE mushy, and not related to the Disney movie at all! HA HA!! You know, I was thinking about that….. what do you think would happen if some Disney representative came and saw what I did to one of their best-selling movies…? ^_^

Yami- Oya, would you at least stay on topic?

Topic? Topic…. What IS this topic you speak of? I KNOW IT NOT!!! Right, so, anyways, you got the basic jist on what chapter this is? Yes? Good. On with it then, I suppose.

Disclaimer- Still don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, nor the idea for Beauty and the Beast….. that's not to say that I WON'T, of course… *evil grin*

Warning- Ok, fine, I'll stoop down to warning you people more than once. This story contains yaoi, as if you couldn't tell from the title. Specifically: 1x2. There will also be some 3x4, and 13x5 if you look reeeeeally hard. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the dream again. The same dream that had been haunting him nearly every night since Duo had come to stay in his castle. It was enough to drive a person insane.

But still…. Heero frowned, considering. His gaze dropped down to his hands, his normal, non-fur-covered hands. It really had to mean something, didn't it? Having the same exact dream, a dream which could be interpreted by even the most foolish to mean that the braided youth was the one he was destined to be with. Coming out of his thoughts, the beast-prince's deep blue eyes traveled from his hands to the beautiful sight before him. 

Yes, Duo was still there. He was always there. Always there, always perfect, always smiling softly. His amethyst eyes sparkled, and an arm was outstretched in a beckoning gesture. Heero knew what the apparition wanted, it was the same thing he did. The problem was, did the person this dream-figure represented feel the same? Pushing that thought aside to cope with later, Heero tried to work out how to, for once, make this dream end happily. 

Sighing, he realized his plan was the same as it always had been. There was no other option. It was a dream, it didn't care what he did, it was just there to tell his subconscious something it wasn't quite getting. Without another thought, he bolted towards the other. 

The dream-Duo laughed, now reaching out with both arms. The joyful sound served to urge Heero on, quicker, swifter, he needed to feel the other in his arms. He was close now, oh so close, and very encouraged by the fact that the apparition opposite him still seemed to be quite solid. Now, he could even feel the other's breath brushing over him….

Smiling, a genuine smile of happiness, Heero wrapped both arms around the boy, ecstatic he hadn't yet disappeared. The dream-Duo's eyes sparkled, and the beast-prince was aware of two arms wrapping themselves around his neck. "Duo, I…. I love you…." It was amazing to finally put it into words, even if it was only a dream. 

The youth smiled in return, then leaned forward so his mouth was right beside Heero's ear. He had to strain to hear the words coming out of the apparition's mouth, but it was worth it. "I love you too, Hee-chan." The whispered words had something behind them, something more than a mere dream's capabilities, but the beast-prince was too overjoyed to notice. However, the emotion was fleeting. How could he face the real Duo now, after hearing this, but having no idea what was truly real? As he sighed, the world faded to black around him, and he was clutching at empty air.

Heero opened his eyes, staring at the darkness above him. Dreams were too confusing to be useful. He really should stop listening to them. Sighing, he rolled over slightly, trying to get comfortable. However, something was impeding his progress. That something squeaked as the beast-prince poked at it, then stuck it's head out from under the sheets. "D-Duo?!"

"Uhm…." The braided boy grinned nervously, looking as if this hadn't been part of his master plan. In fact, it hadn't been. At all. "Er, yea, well, you see…." Heero just raised his eyebrows and waited for the other to spit out whatever he was trying to say. "Ok, so…." Duo cleared his throat. "Well, it got really cold in my room for some reason, so it woke me up, and then I couldn't get back to sleep, and I tried to start another fire but there were no matches anywhere and so I was trying to think up ways I could get warm again and…." He blushed, and was very thankful the darkness covered it. "Um, yea, so, I, uh, came in here and…. I didn't think you'd mind…." The blush turned up a few notches from pink to scarlet.

"I don't." Really, Heero was quite enjoying the whole thing. "You just should have woken me up, then I wouldn't have tried to roll over on top of you." Heero mentally scowled at all the thoughts that statement brought up, and managed to squash them down for later use. Laying back down, he shut his eyes. "Good night."

"Night…." He felt the other boy burrow under the covers once again. "Thanks…. Hee-chan." The beast-prince's eyes shot open at this. The dream…. The dream Duo had called him Hee-chan too…. Did dream people use nicknames normally? His mind finally calmed down enough for him to fall asleep.

Outside Heero's room, Quatre stepped back from the cracked door and smiled, rather pleased at the way thing were going. Taking another step back, he collided with something solid. "Trowa?"

"Hai." He felt the other peer around his shoulder. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?" Both of the servant's eyebrows shot up at the end of this statement, and Quatre didn't need to be able to see him to figure that one out.

"Well, maybe I did, just a bit." The blonde's smile turned rather conspiratorial. "Part one complete."

"Hm. So this is part of your mysterious plan, is it?" Wufei stated bluntly, making Quatre jump. "Clever, sure, but cutting off the heat to his room?" The justice-lover shook his head. "Really…." Treize, who had walked up behind him, snickered softly.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" The blonde servant frowned, but the expression lessened in intensity as Trowa wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "I don't see you doing anything to help."

"Wufei, I can't get the fire started in my room, can I sleep with you?" Treize inquired, 'innocently'. Wufei's eyes widened considerably, and he sputtered a bit, trying to put together a response but somehow not being able to manage it. The other two servants laughed softly, and Treize gave the sputtering boy a peck on the cheek. The sputtering ceased, only to be replaced by a stammering objection, but it didn't seem to have much feeling behind it. "So? Can I?"

"I… I, uh, I… er…."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One amethyst eye opened, rather blearily. It surveyed its surroundings, decided nothing was drastically out of place, and shut once more. Duo mumbled slightly, burying his face deeper into… well, whatever it was. It couldn't be called a sheet, exactly, sheets weren't furry. Nor did they have any sort muscles beneath them… and he was doubly sure they didn't smell like…

The braided boy's eyes shot open. Heero. He. Was. Lying. On. Heero. _No, not on, just beside._ His mind told him cheerfully. Gulping, Duo scanned the surrounding area quickly. Yes, Heero's room. Heero's bed. Heero's…. body. AS the events of the previous night slowly trickled into his brain, the youth calmed down. Slightly. He couldn't remember anything about getting so close to his host, nor about cuddling up next to him…..

Heero stirred, and Duo nearly fell off the bed in shock. 

"Hn…? Duo?" The beast-prince blinked tiredly as he heard the squeak beside him. "What's the matter?" Luckily, the one part of his mind that was completely awake held his memory banks, so he wasn't shocked to find the other boy in his bed. Had he woken up a few seconds earlier, however…. But we won't get into that. 

"Er, nothing, nothing…." Duo muttered, brushing his bangs away from his eyes. "Nothing." He paused, still absently fiddling with his hair. "Er, thanks again for letting me sleep here last night, I really don't like the cold…"

"Your welcome to sleep in here anytime you like." Heero regretted the statement as soon as it came out of his mouth. He was supposed to keep that thought to _himself._ However, Duo said nothing in reply, just remained tugging on his braid lightly. 

__

I am? He mused lightly to himself. _Well then, I don't think my bed's going to have much use from now on…._ He frowned rather bitterly at the thought, but kept the expression behind the loose hair that had fallen around his face_ I don't think he meant for you to take the statement like THAT._ Duo sighed softly, bitterly. _Maybe I could say that the heat has permanently been lost in my room…._

"Masters? Masters… Oh!" Quatre pushed the door open slightly, and grinned as he saw the two young men, still in the same bed. "I, er, sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything…." His grin widened as he saw Duo blush, and Heero begin some sort of objection to whatever he had been implying. Luckily, the blonde servant managed to cut him off. "I just came to tell you that breakfast is ready." With that, he left, pulling the door shut behind him. 

"Smooth Quatre, very smooth." Wufei rolled his eyes. It seemed to be becoming one of his favorite pastimes. 

"Oh, like you acted last night?" The black-haired servant's eyes widened.

"That... that has nothing to do with anything!" Quatre laughed, and Wufei scowled. It was one thing for Treize to like him, but did he have to do it so openly? Still scowling, the justice-loving young man followed Quatre into one of the various dining halls to help serve. Neither heard the conversation behind the closed doors…

"So, er, shall we go?" Heero inquired mildly.

"Oh! Yea, uhm, sure…" Not much of a conversation to hear, I admit, but hey. Needless to say, both eventually made their way down to the particular dining room breakfast was being served in on this particular morning, and ate, of course, breakfast. Afterwards the hours passed, as they are wont to do, and eventually, it was evening, and both young men found themselves tugged into their rooms hurriedly by an invisible servant. 

"What's going on?" Duo demanded as Quatre tugged him over towards the closet and thrust the doors open. The servant didn't respond, instead beginning to rummage around in the seemingly endless array of clothing before him. The braided youth was miffed at being ignored, so miffed that he didn't even take into account that it was slightly un-nerving to see the clothes being sorted through by nothing visible. "Well?"

"Hm? Oh." Quatre didn't answer right away. Tugging out a fancy outfit, he held it up for inspection. Duo frowned at it. It was another black tunic, but long-sleeved and much more dressed up than his normal attire. It was covered with silver embroidery, and yet somehow managed to look un-cluttered and classy. With it hung a pair of pants done in a similar fashion. The braided youth wondered vaguely how someone was supposed to walk without mussing the entire thing up. "This'll work, I think."

"Work for what?!" Duo dodged to the side as the invisible servant held up the outfit for him to take. "Would you PLEASE explain something to me here?!"

"Oh, didn't I already?" The amethyst-eyed boy shook his head. "Oh, I'm sorry. Anyway, we had kind of a…. well, kind of a ball planned… yes, that's it."

"A ball? What on earth are you talking about?!" Duo dodged once again. The floating clothing was inching closer by the second, soon he'd have to climb something to be out of its reach. "Unless I'm gravely mistaken, the only people here are…"

"You, Master Heero, and the servants, yes." Coming from behind, Quatre managed to grab the boy's shoulder. "So, would you please put this on?" He thrust the ornate outfit into Duo's hands. 

"Why?!"

Quatre sighed in exasperation. "Because…"

"No, I mean, why is there going to be a ball, or whatever?" The braided youth held up the outfit, and scowled at it. "I don't see the point, especially if it means I have to get dressed up."

The blonde servant paused, slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected this. "Well, you know, just for a bit of fun…" He searched for something, anything. "Besides, I think Master Heero would love seeing you in this…." He gestured towards the outfit, and Duo's eyes widened slightly.

"Really? You think that…." Then he caught himself. "Er, I mean, if, um, if Heero wants, I guess I can… He's the boss after all, right?"

Quatre chuckled. "Yes, Master Duo. Whatever you say."

"What's that supposed to…"

"Now, put it on!"

"All RIGHT."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This was Quatre's plan, wasn't it?" Heero frowned.

"Well…" Trowa frowned as well. Was Quatre going to get in trouble…? He couldn't let that happen. "Er, not really, it was…"

"I know it was, and no, he's not going to be punished." The beast-prince paused as Trowa sighed in relief. "What's the reason?"

"Reason, sir?"

"The reason for the ball. Don't play stupid."

"Oh, yes. Well…. Do you want the truth, master?" Heero nodded. "Well, Quatre is telling Duo that it's just for fun, but really…. You know what he really thinks, don't you?"

"What?" _I don't know… do I? Yes. Yes I do. _"He's trying to hook us up, isn't he?"

"Yes, sir." There was another pause, and Trowa gulped. He drastically hoped his lover hadn't gone too far… Quatre had a good heart, but it wasn't a totally alien idea for him to have gone completely overboard. The servant gulped again, waiting for the response he knew had to be coming.

"Am I that obvious?" The servant blinked. He hadn't been expecting that particular response. Perhaps he head heard wrong.

"Sir?"

"I said don't play stupid."

"Well… not really, sir, but we know you. When someone's known you as long as we have, well, yes, it is rather obvious." Trowa paused, not sure if he was supposed to continue with this train of thought. However, Heero merely raised his eyebrows, so he decided it was safe. "You take such care when it comes to him, and, well, you've seemed so much happier since he's come here." He held out an outfit. "So?"

"So what?"

"You'll go?"

"Of course I will…." Heero accepted the outfit, not really thinking about anything except seeing Duo in whatever Quatre had selected for him. It was bound to be worth seeing… And besides. Maybe his over-enthusiastic servant was right. Perhaps this would help, or at least allow him to confess his feelings. That had to be better than nothing. Sighing, he began to get dressed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I have to do WHAT?!"

"Oh come come now, my dragon, you LOVE to sing…"

"Not in front of other people!"

"You sing in front of me…"

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SPY ON ME WHILE I'M BATHING!!!" Treize grinned sheepishly, but didn't stop his persuading efforts. 

"Please? Quatre'll kill us both if you mess this up." The tall servant waved the sheets of music in front of Wufei's nose once again. "If you do it, I'll reward you when this is all over…."

All over indeed. That's where Wufei turned red. Still blushing, he snatched the music out of Treize's hands, muttering something or other about injustice under his breath. The other servant just smiled triumphantly. "Don't fret, you have a lovely singing voice." Leaning in, he kissed the black-haired servant firmly on the lips before walking off, leaving Wufei sputtering and trying to concentrate on the music he had been handed. 

"All right, so the dinner is set, and the ball room… TREIZE!!" Quatre waved him over. "Is the music taken care of?"

"Oh, I believe so…" One of Wufei's random mutterings reached his ears. "Yes, I do indeed." Quatre just rolled his eyes.

"You two, honestly…" Shaking his head, he picked his way through the various instruments and servants, eventually reaching the main doors, where Trowa was standing. "Are they coming? Did you get Heero to agree?" He bounced on the balls of his feet, going near-insane with the stress this was putting on him. Perhaps this hadn't been such a great idea….

"Calm down, koibito." Trowa placed both hands on the smaller servant's shoulders. "Everything's going to be fine, your plan will work." The blonde didn't seem convinced. The taller of the two sighed. "If it'll make you feel any better, I left just as Master Heero was getting dressed, and he seemed rather eager to see Master Duo….." He grinned. "You were right. He actually came out and admitted it."

"Hai, now we just need to find out if Master Duo feels the same way, neh?" Winking, (although it lost the real effect, of course) Quatre dashed off to find the afore-mentioned braided youth. Wandering through the halls at a rather quick pace, scanning the rooms, he finally found the amethyst-eyed boy in his room, fussing with his hair. "Master Duo?"

"Hm? Oh, Quatre…" Duo glanced towards the doors, gave up on finding something to hold eye contact with, and went back to his hair. "Well, I was just wondering…" A blush threatened to creep up his cheeks, but he managed to keep it down. Mostly. "It's just that…. Er, well, Heero seemed to like my hair better… when it was down… and…." He released his mass of hair from the fist he'd been holding it in, sending it cascading down his back in a chestnut curtain. "I thought that, well…."

Quatre smiled. "I think it's a wonderful idea. You look marvelous with your hair down. Leave it." Walking around behind the youth, he began to push him towards the door. "Now, come on!"

"Pushy pushy…" Duo muttered. Tossing the brush onto his bed, he took a few steps forward, taking him out of the blonde servant's reach. Mind you, he didn't actually know that the servant was blonde, but that's beside the point. He eventually made his way to the doors of the ballroom, amazing himself by managing to keep his outfit in perfect condition the entire way. 

Reaching the gigantic wooden doors, the amethyst-eyed boy gulped. Stepping forward a bit, he pushed them open ever so slightly, and peered inside. The room looked very good, as if it were preparing for a gigantic party, instead of two people. A small orchestra seemed to be set up in one corner, most of the instruments being supported by invisible servants already. He noticed a few that were currently un-occupied, namely a violin, flute, and guitar, but didn't really take much notice. His eyes were now fixed on the other visible person in the room.

Yes, it was Heero, of course. And, really, he didn't look all that bad, for a beast-prince. Not bad at all, Duo realized, if the light caught him just right. Speaking of light, wasn't it flashing a bit oddly? Yes, it was definitely too bright…_ Ah!_ Duo screwed his eyes shut at the brightness. Wondering what had tried to blind him, he opened one eye, just a crack. What it caught sight of caused both eyes to widen in amazement. Yes, it was still Heero… but it was again the young man, not beast.

A small part of his mind was busy wondering if he was going insane (he had seen this young man three times now in place of the beast, had you been counting) but the rest was focusing on keeping him from drooling. Now, more than ever, he realized this young man was simply _gorgeous, _and even that was selling him short. A lightly muscled frame, currently leaned slightly to the left, suggested hidden strength and grace beyond compare. The hair, still a messy brown. And the eyes….

The eyes. Always the same, always stunning. A shade of blue Duo hadn't previously realized existed. Before he could move on to describing the rest of the young man's body, he was gone, replaced once again by the beast Heero he knew. _And loved?_ A part of his mind inquired. _And loved…. Maybe._ No, not maybe… was it a maybe? _No, no maybe. Definitely. _The long-haired youth sighed. _Good going Duo, you just admitted to yourself that you're in love with about the most un-attainable person there is. _The rest of his mind told the cynic part to keep its mouth shut. 

"Why are you standing out here still?" Quatre's quiet voice nearly made Duo jump out of his skin. Calming down, slightly, he turned around, one eye twitching. The blonde servant wondered if that could be considered a good thing in any circumstances. 

"Right now, trying to calm down from a near heart-attack, thanks."

"My apologies, Master Duo. What _were_ you doing out here?"

"Er…" Another blush faintly colored the youth's cheeks. "I was, um… Well…" _Yes, actually, I was checking out your real master, because I'm in love with him, and keep seeing him as a drastically attractive young man. Does that answer your question?_ "I… nothing… really…"

"Well then, go on!" With a light shove, Quatre sent the well-dressed Duo into the room, slipping in behind him and shutting the doors. The youth stumbled slightly before catching his balance, and immediately shifting his gaze to his feet. He locked his hands behind his back and seemed to freeze in place. Actually, he did. 

__

What am I supposed to do?! 

"Go on." Quatre urged softly from behind him. "Master Heero is just over there. He is supposed to escort you to the dinner table, and then to the floor for dancing."

"D-d-d-dancing?!" Duo stuttered, feet not moving. He, however, was moving across the floor at a surprising rate: Quatre had decided to push him along the slick floor. "But I don't know how!" _Wonderful, I can make a fool of myself!_

The servant just chuckled. "Master Heero will teach you." He grinned in determination, and gave Duo one last, powerful shove. "Now, go on, he's waiting!"

Once again, the long-haired youth stumbled forward. Luckily though, his body seemed to catch on, and his legs began moving of their own accord, carrying him closer and closer to Heero. The beast-prince seemed to be conversing with himself—no, wait, another servant—and didn't seem to notice at first. As Duo drew closer, however, he heard his footsteps and turned. And nearly gasped aloud. 

Duo was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. He couldn't find another word. His long locks flowed behind him in a chestnut wave, catching the light and throwing it in different directions in dazzling patterns. The youth's pale skin contrasted starkly with the black outfit he was wearing, which in turn made every curve of his perfectly shaped figure stand out and draw attention. Heero caught himself staring and gave himself a mental shake. 

Unfortunately, his mind took a temporary leave of absence at the outstanding sight before him. Clearing his throat, Trowa elbowed the beast-prince in the side, trying to recall some vague memory of what he was supposed to be doing from wherever it had taken to hiding. Heero blinked once, twice, then finally remembered. Inhaling deeply, he stuck out his arm, managing to make the action graceful in spite of his nervousness. Apparently, the effect worked.

Duo smiled gratefully, incredibly glad the other had made the first move. He wasn't sure what he would have done… probably blabbed something or other. He was good at talking, but now didn't seem to be the right time to put that talent to use. Not sure exactly what to do, but not caring, he reached out and took the offered arm. The two young men made their way to the ornately set dinner table, and proceeded to eat a meal full of things Duo had never seen before, but had no trouble polishing off. 

As soon as both were full, a chord was heard being struck on the guitar across the room. First Heero blinked, then Duo. Confusion, however, reigned for only a short while, for both were soon being ushered out of their seats by invisible servants, and the orchestra was kicking into full swing. All the instruments were occupied now, even the guitar, which brought some confusion to the servants. What brought even more confusion was the girl playing it, which, luckily, only seemed to be seen by the servants, so required no explanation. To anyone besides themselves that is.

She had iridescent silver hair, eyes no one could quite seem to catch the color of, and seemed to be having a pretty darn good time playing the guitar. Her emerald green clothing clashed horribly with everything in the room, again adding more good fortune to the fact that she was not seen by the people who the room was decorated for. 

"Er…" Quatre began quietly, but was cut off by an apple hitting him in the back of the head. "Hey, what…"

"Shh!" He looked up to where both the sound and apple had come from, and spotted the last person he expected to see, sitting on the chandelier. Well, maybe not the last, but pretty dang close. 

"You!"

"Yes, me." Indeed, it was Sage, the sorceress more or less responsible for the whole thing. "Don't even question it, I'm making sure this all goes right for everyone. Don't question that either, just get back to playing before Wufei over there has a cow." Rather startled, Quatre blinked once before glancing over at the black-haired servant, who did seem rather peeved at him.

"All…. Right…" Deciding to do as told and just not question anything, Quatre once again began playing his violin, quickly losing himself in the music. Everyone else went back to playing as well, except for the unknown guitarist, who had never stopped in the first place. Finally hearing his cue approaching, Wufei cleared his throat, took a deep breath and began singing.

"So…. hitotsu-me no yoru ni…"

"Um… Duo began as he walked onto the dance floor, close beside Heero. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but…." He grinned sheepishly at the confused expression on the beast-prince's face. "I don't know how to dance."

Heero blinked once, twice, then began laughing softly. Before the other boy could take offense, he stopped himself, but remained smiling broadly, which was definitely something new. "That's all right. Here, I'll teach you…" (a/n- again, incredibly ooc Heero behavior, neh?) Reaching out with both arms, he began to do exactly as he said. By the time Wufei's song was over, Duo had gotten the basic concept, and was ready to sit down. Mainly because he kept putting his feet down in the wrong places, and once or twice managed to step on his own foot. 

"Heh, not cut out for dancing, I guess." The long-haired youth said lightly, sitting down on the bench that rested against the railing of one of the many balconies that protruded from the ballroom. "At least not in an outfit like this, half the time I'm afraid I'll rip the hem out or something…." He made a face at his clothes, causing Heero to laugh once more. _He sounds like he needs to laugh more…_ The youth noted. _I'll have to try and take care of that._

"What are you talking about, you did wonderfully for a beginner. I put my first dance teacher out of commission for quite a while by accidentally stepping on her foot and breaking her big toe." He sat beside Duo, and tilted his head back, looking at the stars above. The twinkled brightly. _Never as bright as Duo's eyes… never even close to as beautiful…. _Well, it was now or never…. But could he really say something so important so bluntly? Was there any way besides bluntly? "Duo, I…" Wonderful start. "I…. Are you happy?" Not exactly the original thought, but it was something to work with. (a/n- did I take that directly from the movie? I can't remember… *thinks*)

The amethyst-eyed boy blinked. _Happy doesn't even come close to describing it._ Well, that more than likely wasn't the best response. Perhaps something a bit milder. "Of course!" He winced. Exclamations were rarely considered mild. "Er, I mean…. Yes… I am… Very happy…." Duo gulped. He was in for it now. "Heero, you see, I…."

The beast-prince didn't reply, didn't prod in any way, merely raised his eyebrows and waited patiently. "I…" The long-haired youth glanced around in desperation. That proved to be the absolute worst thing he could have done. "MAXWELL CHURCH!!!"

"What?" Heero looked to where the other's eyes were focused. The small village he had come from was very faintly visible from his castle, but now it was illuminated—especially a tall building adorned by a cross—by a incredibly large fire. 

"OH MY GOD!!!" The fire was reflected in Duo's eyes, and he clutched at the railings tightly. "They're trying to burn down the church! Why… why?! I need to… I need to go help! I…. But, I…" He turned to the beast-prince, the only thing in his eyes now desperation. 

"Then… then you have to go… and help."

"What…?"

"I said, you need to go and help… You… you're from the church, it's your home, and it's important to you…" _More than me…_ Scowling, he pushed that thought aside. "You… you're free to go."

"I… I…" Duo gave up on finding the proper words. There weren't any. Instead, he flung his arms around the other's neck, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you for understanding…" A tear threatened to fall, but he shoved it away fiercely. Pulling away slightly, he looked deeply into the sapphire eyes of his…. _Love._ Yes, love. "I will come back. I will. I promise." With a final hug, he dashed off to his room to get more suitable clothes on. 

Heero remained on the balcony, and watched the boy go as he ran out the front gates a short while later. The beast-prince belatedly realized he should have offered a horse, then of course, remembered he didn't exactly have any to offer. Sighing deeply, he finally got up, and began slowly trudging back indoors. _He won't come back, don't be stupid. _

"Your highness! I think it all went spectacularly! Did you…" Quatre stopped at the look on his master's face. "Your highness? What is it? Where is Master Duo? Did he…"

"I let him go." The quiet statement was barely audible, and the blonde-servant decided to check once more before jumping to conclusions. 

"You…. You what, sir?"

"I let him go. I had to." Heero sighed deeply once more. "Please, just leave me be for now…." Without another word, he set off slowly for his quarters, leaving Quatre frozen in his wake, trying to comprehend the words that had just poured into his brain. 

"Quatre, what are you doing just standing here? Where's Heero and Duo? Where…" Wufei paused at the lack of response. "Quatre? What is it?" Trowa made his way over as well, along with Treize.

"Koibito? What is it?"

The blonde servant tried to talk, but failed. Gulping down a mouthful of air, he tried again. "He… he let him… go…" The others didn't say anything right away, merely stood with their mouths open in shock. Amazingly enough, their vocal capabilities seemed to all come back at once.

"HE DID WHAT?!"

Quatre merely nodded in reply, realized it couldn't be seen, and voice his confirmation sadly. "It's more true than I ever thought. He's so deeply in love with the boy… I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." Normally, this would be the perfect opportunity for either Trowa to break in and comfort his smaller lover, or Treize to make a rather suggestive comment to Wufei, but neither seemed to be taking up the chance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"FATHER MAXWELL!!!!" Duo mentally slapped himself. He was still much to far away to be heard, and shouting only took valuable air away, which he needed desperately to run with. Deciding that it would be wisest to just keep his mouth shut, he continued running in silence. _Why would the be burning down the church?! Why the HELL would they be doing that?!_ He didn't even pause to realize the irony in his choice of swears.

Panting, he reached the back of his previous home and leaned against the wall for support. _Maybe running the whole way wasn't the smartest thing for me to have done…_ Too late to gripe now. Still gasping for air, he peered around the corner of the house. Funny, Maxwell church didn't seem to be burning from here… 

It wasn't! It wasn't burning at all! Duo nearly swore again, quite vividly, before catching sight of the source of the orange light that bathed the surrounding area. In front of the church burned a gigantic bonfire. _Bonfire? What the hell…_ Creeping around to the front of the house, he decided to take a chance and knocked on the door. There was a quiet response from inside, and Duo immediately dashed in. 

"Duo…? DUO!!" Father Maxwell stood up suddenly, light from outside revealing his tired features. "It is you! How did you escape? What…" His eyes widened. "We have to tell them to stop this! We… no, we can't…"

"What are you talking about?!" Duo was past politeness. Taking a deep breath, he managed to calm himself slightly. "Yes, Father Maxwell it's me. I didn't escape, Heero let me go…"

"Heero?"

"The…" He couldn't say beast. He wasn't one. "The master of the castle."

"That terrible beast?! How on…"

"He's different now… he's…" Duo shook his head sharply, causing a few hairs to fall from his quickly done braid. "Crap." He didn't even care about Father Maxwell's dislike of cursing. He was too worked up. "Anyway, what's going on? What's with the bonfire?"

Hurriedly, the priest managed to explain all about how he had told Duo's location to Relena and Zechs, and their decision to dispose of the beast. At the conclusion of the short tale, the youth's amethyst eyes widened a considerable amount. 

"We can't let that happen!"

"Yes, I regret…"

"No time for that, Father! We need to do something, and now… I need to warn him, I need…." Pausing to think, Duo frowned. "Yes, we need to go, but first… You are coming with me?" The priest nodded hesitantly. "Right, come on, we need to go see what they're planning…."

"I know what they're planning. They're going to take all the strong men of the village and storm the castle. Relena will be…"

"Relena?! I should've known she'd be the one initiating anything involving 'saving me'." The braided youth scowled. "Well come on…"

"Duo, how're we going to get there ahead of the mob? We can't take the main road, we'll be seen, and then…" Father Maxwell caught the glint in the youth's eyes. "Duo? You're not thinking of…"

"Oh, I'll bring it back…" Without another word, Duo was out the door and gone. A few minutes later, he returned, leading a slightly confused horse. "Problem solved."

"Duo, you can't just…"

"I said I'll bring it back. I'm just borrowing it. Besides, this is for a very noble cause." He mounted the animal as Father Maxwell exited the house. "Are you coming?"

"I am very sure this is improper behavior, but…" The priest sighed and climbed up in the saddle behind the amethyst-eyed boy. "I think I've already damaged the properness of the entire situation."

Duo laughed, although rather bitterly. "All right then, let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes- UGH. FINALLY. Ahem. Sorry about the abrupt ending all, but this chapter is already TWICE the length of my other chapters….

Duo- Not chapter one! ^_^

*mutters* No, it's only a page longer than that, but that's beside the point. Anyways, I had to finish this chapter at a certain point, and that meant going by ideas, not word count. -_- SO… yea, it was really long. The next chapter might be pretty long too, who knows. Ah well.

Yami- *grumbles* She only goes overboard on the 1x2 stories…

Pffff, what're you talking about? The only long story I've actually finished is "Transfer Students"! ELEVEN CHAPTERS! OYA! Don't whine! ANYWAYS I DO have two actual notes regarding the story here, folks!

Yes, Wufei WAS singing "Sound Life" from Trigun… er, yea, I know it totally doesn't relate at all, but it's a really nice song, and I like it so… yea. ^_^ Just pretend that the translation is different, ok? The person playing the guitar was my friend Silver making a guest appearance. *nods* It was going to be me playing, but then she wanted a part, and I remembered she's a much better guitarist than I am. Eh heh heh… 

MOVING RIGHT ALONG… next chapter is the last one all,(besides the epilogue of course) and you know what that means!

Duo- Fluff! ^_^

Yup! And sparkly objects raining from the sky! And Relena's death! And…

Heero- Baka, don't give it all away.

Oh, poo to you. They all know how the story goes… Ahem, anyways…. I'm sure reviews would help the next chapter be written quicker, neh? -_^

Yami- *rolls his eyes* That was shameless. 


	7. The end, or is it?

Author's Notes- WHEE HEE!! LAST CHAPER HERE FOLKS!! *waves a flag* THAT MEANS THIS THING WILL SOON BE DOOOOOONE!!!

Duo- What about the epilogue?

Well, technically, that aint a chapter, so this is still the last. Ahem, and I said 'soon' be done, not 'is' done.

Yami- Of course not, his is only the author's notes, you couldn't just end after that. 

Yea, author's notes, which YOU have managed to sneak into, once again.

Yami- *shrugs*

-_- Oya… Just because you're a pharaoh doesn't mean that…

Duo- Can we get on with instead of you two arguing?! *hops impatiently*

Right, right… *mutters* Oh yes, one final note… GRAVITATION RULES!!! ^_^

Yami and Duo- *blink* Wha…?

Disclaimer- Nope… still don't own any Gundam Wing characters… *sniff* I have posters of Heero and Duo though! ^_^ Does that count?

Warning- *blink blink* You haven't caught on yet? Geesh… YAOI CONTENT. There ya go. ^_^ Oh, and death, in his chapter. *cackles*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Relena surveyed her small army, back to the bonfire that was taking up nearly a quarter of the village square. As she had hoped, every village male with the ability to fight had shown up, and were even holding the desired pitchforks and other various weapons. However, most were just leaning on their supplies, not holding them in a threatening manner as he blonde girl had hoped. Well, she'd just have to fix that.

Turning slightly, she climbed up on a storage crate to give her some height to work with. People tended to listen if you were higher up than they were, however odd that seemed. Once again facing the assembled crowd, she cleared her throat dramatically. "Good people of the town! I have called you here on very important matters indeed!" There was a rather unorganized shouted agreement from the crowd, and she rather impatiently waited until everyone had quieted down again. She wasn't quite sure how Zechs had managed to convince them all that there was indeed a beast that needed destroying, but she didn't really want to question things. 

"We have to go save one of our own from the clutches of a vile creature, then dispose of it to insure the safety of all of our people!" This was met by a cheer and much raising of weapons over the heads of the assembled villagers. Even women and children, watching from their doorways and windows, joined in on the cheering to this statement. Relena grinned, glad the darkness his her face. This was going perfectly. 

"All right, then let's move out!" Relena pumped the air with a fist and turned to where her horse was. Rather, had been. She blinked in confusion. She could have sworn she left her horse right there…

"Relena, what's the matter?" Zechs grabbed his sister's shoulder as the crowd surged by, lighting torches from the fire and heading towards the road through the forest. (a/n- *snorts* Through the mist, through the wood, through the darkness and the shadow, it's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride… hee hee, I'll stop.)

The female blinked. "Oh, er, nothing, I just thought… It doesn't matter." Quickly turning she took temporary possession of her brother's horse and swung up into the saddle. "I just have to borrow your horse, that's all." She dug her heels into the animal's sides, and it took off with a jolt, nearly throwing her off. (a/n- nearly? Damn… I shoulda made her fall… -_-) "Thanks!" She held on as the horse galloped to the front of the crowd of armed villagers. 

"Hey, you can't just…." Zechs gave up. There was no way he was getting his animal back any time in the near future. Sighing, he jogged to catch up with the rest of the small army, muttering something or other about siblings being more trouble than they were worth. (a/n- yer tellin me…)

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duo swore vividly as he heard the noisy group take to the main road, and urged his 'borrowed' horse on. The animal had already been galloping, now it broke out into a dead run. A part of the braided boy's mind was shocked; Father Maxwell usually gave him a short lecture whenever he swore. Now, nothing. Serious measures called for a lack of vocal punishment, it appeared. 

__

A bit further… Just a bit more… The amethyst-eyed youth nearly shouted in victory as they broke out of the trees in front of a large castle, right in front of the gates. Duo paused, considering. If he opened the gates, that would give the angry mob behind him an advantage. If he didn't, how could he get in… He searched his memory banks quickly, looking for an alternate route. Yes, he had been out on the palace grounds quite a bit, hadn't there been a few back gates…?

"Duo?" Father Maxwell peered around the boy's shoulder at the intimidating gates in front of them. "What's the matter? Can't you get in?"

"I can get in, sure, I just don't want to here…" Yes, there had been one in the very back, on the north-eastern corner, and… "I've got it!" Swiftly turning the horse, Duo once again urged it into a gallop, taking it's two passengers around the back of the castle walls. After they had gone a ways, the braided youth gently tugged the animal to a slower pace. He stopped all together as they came to an ivy-covered wall.

In this weather, of course, it didn't look much like ivy, but the general affect was still there. Dismounting, Duo walked over, shoving aside tendrils of the dead plant matter. Snow crackled and fell off of frozen branches, tumbling down onto the ground below. The amethyst-eyed boy managed to avoid getting covered in the white material, and eventually uncovered a door beneath the vast, brittle mass. 

"Here is where we get in." He grinned as he turned to Father Maxwell, shoving the door open lightly. "Priests and other holy men first, of course." Making sure the door would stay open for the moment, he walked back to the horse, turning it once more towards the forest and the village beyond. Clucking his tongue loudly, he sent it homewards, knowing it would get there without trouble. Once he animal was out of sight, he turned back to the concealed door, seeing Father Maxwell had already gone through.

He strode over quickly, muttering under his breath. "All right Hee-chan, here I come, I promised I'd come back… How could I not?" Rushing in, he didn't even here the noisy mob stop at the gates. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All right men, all together now!" Relena all but screamed as the large group shoved on the gates repeatedly. It didn't seem to be working, and she was getting rather discouraged. Glancing around desperately, she noticed one villager was holding a crow bar. "You! Come here!"

Not caring to be patient, she rode over, snatching the length of metal from his hands. Making her way to the gates, she leaned of in the saddle and began bashing at the lock with the crow bar. At first, it didn't seem to have much effect, but after a few moments, the lock began to wither under her blows. Finally catching on, the rest of the villagers began helping, hitting the lock with anything hard they happened to have on hand. Soon, crumpled, the mechanism fell, gates swinging open quickly. 

The mob surged through the gates, eating up the distance between the walls and castle in practically no time. Relena rode in front, shouting encouragement, and mentally congratulating herself. This was working… this was working perfectly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe that…" Quatre was knocked out of his reverie by the shouts and clanks coming from the main yard. "What on.." Swiftly making his way over to the window, the blonde servant peered out to the ground below, trying to see what on earth was causing all the commotion. Seeing the source, his eyes widened in shock and horror. "TROWA!! WUFEI! TREIZE!! GET IN HERE!!" 

His ear-splitting scream brought not only the servants he had called, but nearly every other in the castle as well. "What? What is it?!" Wufei demanded, scowling. His normally neat black ponytail was mussed and nearly falling out, and his clothes were quite rumpled. Treize sidled up behind him, grinning, giving perfect reason to Wufei's disheveled state. Luckily for the black-haired servant, no one had the time to analyze this fully.

"INTRUDERS!!!" Quatre's voice was on the verge of cracking. "D-D-DOWN THERE!!" With a trembling hand, he managed to point out the window to the raging mob below. The servants all crowded round, taking in the sight for themselves.

"This isn't good…" Trowa ran a hand over his lover's back, trying to calm the blonde down somewhat. It worked, but only slightly. The other servant was still on the verge of hysterics, but at least now he wasn't trembling so much. "We need to warn the master, fast!" The green-eyed youth barked out an order, and two servants dashed out of the room, heading towards Heero's quarters. "And we… we need to think up some sort of plan…."

"No shit!" Treize exclaimed, the seriousness of the situation temporarily hauling him away from la-la land. He had previously been a leader of the palace guard, and was therefore the most looked-to in such a situation. Indeed, every servant left in the room turned to the tall man, who was absently tugging on his nose, thinking. 

"Something…?" The whisper came from Wufei. "Anything….?" Desperation showed in his soft voice, and he moved slightly closer to Treize, resting a hand on the taller's shoulder. A slight twitch ran through the other's body, but he was soon lost in deep thought once more. 

Quatre was suffering, horribly. He hated situations like this. He was useless, and everything was in turmoil. His hands found the bottom of his shirt and began wringing it relentlessly, severely wounding the fabric. The blonde didn't notice, however. He was too focused on more important matters. _Why would anyone attack?_

Suddenly, making nearly everyone jump, Treize popped out of his thoughts with a shout. "It isn't much, but I think I have something!" The tall servant swiftly explained to everyone in the room his plan, and once things were clear, everyone rushed down to the main hall to their posts. (a/n- well, I COULD have explained to you all what exactly his plan was, but if you've seen the Disney movie, you should have a basic inkling of what's going on, right?) "Wufei! Go check and see if his highness has received word of the invasion!"

With a jerky nod, the black-haired servant dashed off, hoping and praying with all his might that Treize's plan would work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you two doing out here?!" Wufei exclaimed, barely suppressing the urge to strangle both servants on the spot. This wouldn't help anyone!

"His highness told us to go away…" One said in a shaky voice. The other placed a hand on his shoulder for support. "We tried to tell him what was going on outside, but he said it didn't matter anymore, and then told us to go away." The young servant gulped. "We didn't want to anger Master Heero, he was already very testy…"

"I see." Wufei frowned, thinking. In reality, he didn't want to be near an angry Heero than either of these servants did, but he didn't have a choice in the matter. "You two go to the main hall with the rest, I'll try and talk with him…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." The two servants looked at one another, uncertain.

"Well, good luck then." They took off towards the main hall, relieved at leaving their temperamental master behind. 

"Your highness?" Wufei began, lightly knocking on the door. No answer. "Your highness…" He pushed on the thick wood, opening the door a crack and peering in. It was dark, the only light coming from the moonlight shining through the windows. Gulping, the black-haired servant pushed the door completely open and walked in. 

"Master Heero, we seem to be in trouble. There is a mob at our gates, and…"

"I know."

Wufei was a bit taken aback. "Sir?" Regaining most of his composure, he continued. "Then… have you a plan, or way of getting rid of them? We fear they will breach our defenses soon, and then be inside…"

"It doesn't matter." A shadowy figure by the window moved, giving Wufei something to make eye contact with. As his master stepped into the light, he could see that the beast-prince definitely looked worse for wear. His clothes were rumpled, and his deep blue eyes were red and tired. "Let them come."

"But sir!" The servant knew he was pushing things, but he couldn't help it. "They'll destroy the castle, and…" He gulped. "They'll surely try and kill you, your majesty! We can't…"

"Why not?" The quiet reply was worse than any shout could have been. "What do I have to live for? My one chance at a happy life left, never to return. Would it not be better to just end things now? Perhaps then al of you, at least, could be free of this curse." Heero sighed deeply. "It's better this way. Just let them come."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just a few more should do it!" Relena yelled, egging her small army on once more. They were at the main doors, which, unfortunately, were locked. But really, that had been expected, so the blonde had sent a handful of men to chop down a large tree to use as a battering ram. So far, it seemed to be working: the door was looking rather battered after only a few hits. 

Inside the castle, the servants' outlook on things was not so positive. "We can't hold them back much longer!" Quatre wailed, pressed up against the abused doors with a smattering of other servants. Every time the doors were his, the whole group was knocked down. The slight servants wondered if they were really helping matters at all, or just becoming bruised. 

"All right, fall back!" Treize commanded, using the same voice he had used to order about his small fleet of guards. "That wasn't really expected to work anyway, and you all know the plan!" A chorus of agreement came up from the assembled servants, and each ran to his or her assigned location, careful not to run into anyone on the way. Soon, not a sound was heard in the main hall, save the heavy breathing of a select few and the occasional muffled tap of a foot against the carpeted floor. 

"Once more!" Relena's eyes were wild; she was so close, oh so close to winning! Just a bit more, and they'd be in, and she'd be free to kill the creature that held her key to power! She would be victorious, and no one could stop her! "Just once more!" With a yell, the men rammed the door again, putting all their weight behind it.

With a loud bang, the doors swung open, hitting the side walls with enough force to rattle everyone. At the sudden explosion of noise, Relena's borrowed mount decided enough was enough. The horse reared, wide-eyed and whinnying. Pawing at the air, it dumped its rider and tore off into the night, not slowing until it reached home. 

"Stupid animal…" Relena muttered, sitting up slowly. Luckily for her, the fall hadn't broken anything, and she didn't seem to be hurting anywhere. With a determined grin, the young woman stood, victory in her sights. She would win. There was nothing to stop her. Striding forward, she signaled for her small army to follow. She expected angry servants; perhaps a completely deserted castle, everything covered in dust and falling apart. She received neither, and was very confused. "What…"

Before she could complete her statement, the room came to life. Literally, or so it seemed. Torches on the walls appeared to light on their own accord; previously inanimate object began flying around, fiercely attacking her small army. The men were startled, shocked, and even terribly frightened, but attempted to hold their ground. One man swung at the floating candlestick that was coming at him with a shovel. It dodged to the side, then came down firmly on the man's head, along with something that felt suspiciously like a foot (but looked like empty air) coming down on his toes. 

Similar battles were going on all throughout the hall, the villagers losing in each and everyone. Those still standing decided that this was the perfect time to retreat screaming and yelling, and proceeded to do so. Scowling, Relena grabbed a man with a bow and quiver full of arrows by the shoulder.

"Miss Relena! This castle is haunted! We should get out of here quickly!" The man clutched tightly at his bow, sweat pouring down his face. The blonde female didn't seem to think his suggestion was worth considering.

"No you fool, we have to destroy the beast and save Duo!" Her captive gulped. That was definitely not on his top ten list of things to do… Nevertheless, he appeared stuck. Relena began stalking towards the nearest staircase, dragging the poor villager along with her, and somehow managing to avoid the 'possessed' items that flew about. 

After much seemingly futile searching, the blonde and the rather frightened villager came across a room that appeared to contain what they were looking for. The doors were shut, locked, and covered in incredibly ornate carvings. "It's in here." Relena didn't need to specify which 'it' she was talking about. The man behind her merely began quivering. "Come on you dolt, we have to get in…" Snatching a dagger from the villagers belt, she began hacking relentless at the wood around the door handle.

"Miss, should you really be… doing that?" The man gulped. Somehow, he didn't suspect that irritating a beast to this extent was something healthy. Relena ignored him, and merely continued hacking at the door. "Miss, please, think some sense! We cannot defeat this creature alone!"

"Yes we can." With a victorious cry, the blonde stood back and shoved the now-very-battered door back, revealing a dark room. 

"Uhm…" The villager peered around. "Miss, I think this one's empty too."

Relena scowled once again. The expression seemed to have found quite a nice home on her face. "That doesn't make sense, locked doors are guarding something… and there's nothing of value in here, it HAS to be in here…" She began kicking objects out of her way as she stalked around. By the window, a shadow moved slightly. "There!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero stared at the grounds far below. He couldn't remember being this depressed in his entire life. To be so close, so close to being normal and loved, and have it torn away from him at the last moment… it seemed one of fate's terribly cruel jokes. The beast-prince wished fate didn't like such jokes so much. 

A crash dragged his attention back to the present, and away from sparkling amethyst depths and long chestnut locks. Slowly, he turned to look where the crash had come from—his door. There were two figures, two unfamiliar figures standing there. He stared. Why would anyone besides his servants be in his home…?

It didn't matter. Let them do as the pleased, he didn't care about anything anymore. With a mental sigh, he turned back to the window, staring at the place he had last seen his love.

"There!" The shriek rattled through his skull, once again jerking him away from thoughts of happier times. Ok, _now_ the strangers would have to go. If they disturbed his peace, he simply couldn't let them wander around. The beast-prince turned again, but his heart really wasn't in driving away intruders at the moment. 

"Shoot it!" The same voice cried. "Shoot it NOW you fool, before it attacks!"

"But miss, it hasn't done… anything… to us…" This voice was masculine, and very afraid. There was the sound of a bowstring being drawn taught. "Are you sure we ought to…"

"SHOOT IT!!" There was no time to react. Before he realized it, it was already over. Heero felt a jolt of pain in his shoulder. As if in a dream, he slowly tilted his neck to look. A quivering arrow stuck out of his flesh. Another wave of pain came, causing him to roar in rage. He heard the bow clatter to the floor, the sound of someone running, and yet more shrieking. "COME BACK YOU COWARD!!!"

The beast-prince stumbled backwards, trying to tug out the arrow. It wasn't that deep… He could handle it… Clamping his mouth shut, Heero wrapped a hand around the missile and yanked. The pain of it coming out was just as bad as it had been going in. He roared again, leaning back as if trying to escape the pain. That proved to be a mistake. Somehow, something shoved him even farther back, sending him tumbling through the glass window and on the balcony. 

"Die, you foul creature!" The same voice that had commanded that he be shot. Wonderful. Hadn't the owner left yet? She really should, before he got angry… Slowly, Heero staggered to his feet, a bit stunned from the fall, but otherwise all right. A slow trickle of blood ran down his shoulder, but he ignored it. "Be gone! What did you do with him?! What did you do with Duo?!"

The beast-prince's ears perked at the name. _Duo…. Duo… _How we wished he were still with Duo…"You killed him!" That was it. Maybe it was the grating voice, or the foul accusation, or maybe the fact he had been shot then pushed out a window. Whatever it was, Heero had had it. Something inside him snapped.

With a roar of fury, he leapt forward, not hearing the crack of thunder from overhead. Landing in a crouched position, he was preparing to leap again when it began to rain. The drops came thick and fast, making his range of vision short. Water splashed up from the ground, soaking him, but he didn't really care. He was beyond caring about much.

Roaring once more, he took the leap that would put him in range for a slash. However, taking advantage of the weather, his opponent had run. With a growl, Heero stalked over to the railing, searching for the offender. Hearing a noise, he swiftly turned back to the broken window. What he saw instead nearly made him fall off the balcony. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shit!" Duo glared at the sky above as it began to rain. In response, it began to pour. "Great, this is just great." Sighing, the braided youth turned back to the priest behind him. "Father Maxwell, you might want to stay in the front hall here…" He shoved open the main doors, deciding it was best to go in the front way, considering the small army had left. "I'll go find Heero."

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" The older man wrung his hands. "Should you be doing this… for this… person?"

"Of course I should. I…" Duo bit his lip. Sure, he knew he loved Heero now, but it probably wouldn't be the wisest thing to blurt out at this moment in time. "I need to. He means something to me, I can't just desert him." Without another word, the amethyst-eyed boy tore off down a hall, taking a route he knew would lead him to the beast-prince's room.

Finally coming to a stop outside Heero's room, Duo scowled at the door. The door handle had been completely cut out. "What the hell…" Kicking open the door (which wasn't really shut anyway) he hurried through, easily finding his way through the darkened room, just as he had the night before, but with much different intentions. 

"Heero…" His voice was barely more than a whisper. He needed to fix that. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "HEERO!!" There, that was better. Quite a nice yell. Duo's steps quickened as he saw the broken window, and the shadow outside of it, quickly becoming drenched in the rain. 

The beast-prince jolted upon hearing his name. "Duo…? DUO!!" The braided youth didn't answer, choosing instead to throw himself at the other, arms outstretched. "You… you came back!" Heero quickly wrapped both arms around the boy, who had both of his around the prince's neck. 

"Of course I did. I said I would. Besides… I…" Duo didn't get to finish the sentiment. The worst possible scenario occurred. 

Relena saw.

The blonde had been sneaking back to the balcony, tightly clutching the dagger she had snatched from the villager, hoping to catch the beast off-guard. What she saw instead made her screech. A very familiar braided figure… HUGGING the very thing she had come to kill on his behalf. Hugging it TIGHTLY. 

With another scream of outrage, the blonde female launched herself at the beast, dagger held out. She wasn't thinking clearly any more. Only one thing was in her mind: she needed to kill this… thing. This thing that had kept her from her goal. It needed to be destroyed. And she was the one to do it.

She was in range. Now was it. With a sort of malicious grin, Relena caught Heero in the side with the dsagger, and immediately began laughing, in quite a deranged manner. "You see?!" She didn't notice the beast-prince's roar of pain, or see his arm swing around. "I'm the hero! I saved him! I'll have power! I'll…" The words fell off into an ear-splitting scream as the arm came around, hitting her fully in the stomach, and sending her tumbling backwards. Still screaming, Relena tumbled over the railing, falling to her death on the sharp rocks far, far below. 

None of this, however, was noticed by either of the other two people still on the balcony. "Heero?! HEERO!!" Duo's eyes widened as the beast-prince's grip on him loosened, then failed completely as he fell to the ground below. "No… no! Oh my God, Heero…" The braided youth fell to his knees beside the other, amethyst eyes wide and frightened. 

"It's… it's all right…" Heero found the words coming to his lips without pain, amazingly enough. He wasn't in that much pain… but… he couldn't live without this one's love. He couldn't survive if Duo didn't return his feelings, so why delay the inevitable? It seemed perfectly all right just to die from the blade. "It's… better this way…"

"No it's not! Don't say things like that!" Duo leaned over the other, eyes trained on the sapphire orbs of the one he loved. "Heero, listen to me. You can't die. You just can't! You'll be all right, you HAVE to be all right!"

"Why…?" The beast-prince exhaled heavily. "At least… at least I got to see you… one last time." One more ragged intake of breath. When it was let out, Heero's head fell back to the ground, eyes shut. Yes… it was better this way… why fight it…

"No…" Duo shook his head. "No… NO! You can't be dead! NO!!" He threw himself on top of Heero, holding his love tightly. "No…. Heero…." The rain continued to fall, merging with his tears. "I… I love you… you can't… you can't die…." He buried his face in the other's chest, sobbing. He had never sobbed before. "I love you… Please…"

At first, he didn't notice the change of weather. He did notice as the strange occurrence began making noise. Great, sparkling lights, looking similar to colored shooting stars, had begun to fall with the rain. As each one hit, it made a sort of chiming sound, all together forming an eerie tune. Tears ran down the boy's face as Duo looked at the lights. It didn't seem important. Nothing did… Heero…

But now something was occurring with Heero as well. The falling lights seemed to be forming a sparkling circle around the beast-prince, coming down more rapidly by the second. Suddenly, he began to rise in the air, held up by some mysterious force. Letting go of the other, Duo clutched his cloak to keep it from flying off. Both amethyst eyes were wide, taking in the miraculous sight before him. 

The lights were still falling, falling rapidly. And now… now Heero himself seemed to be glowing, eyes still shut as he hovered in the colorful, sparkling shower. His body was pulled upright, and light began to collect at all of his exposed, fur-covered flesh.

First it was the hands. Beams of light congregated their, circling and curving around the limbs in a dizzying dance. Finally, they all came together, seeming to sink into the beast-prince's arms, transforming them into normal, human limbs. Heero's legs were transformed in a similar fashion as Duo watched, awe-struck. His love's body seemed to be shrinking from that of a beast to that of a lightly-muscled young man. Slowly, slightly afraid, the braided youth raised both eyes to the floating one's head.

More sparkling lights were flying around Heero's face, dancing up, down, left and right. For a split second, all came together to completely hide the former-beast-prince's face from sight, and when the sparkling shield disappeared, Duo gasped. It was him. The same young man he had been seeing in the beast's stead on those multiple occasions. Everything in his mind seemed to be clicking together without his knowledge. He watched, still in awe, as the young man that had been a beast was slowly lowered to the ground, now-tattered clothes waving in the wind.

The rain slowed to a fine sprinkling, then stopped all together. Duo didn't notice. He was concentrating on the figure before him. Slowly, hesitantly, he stepped forward, one arm outreached. Was he… The youth jerked as the young man stirred. 

Seeming as if he had just woken from a deep sleep, this youth that had taken Heero's place stood, back to Duo. Raising his hands to his eye level, he stared, as if he had never seen his own body. Shifting his view down, he took in his feet, legs, and chest, before finally turning around. Duo gulped, wondering what he should do.

Soft smile appearing on his incredibly gorgeous features, the young man came forward, stopping only inches away from the amethyst-eyed boy. "Duo…" His voice… could it be…? "Duo, it's me…"

Duo reached out hesitantly, hand moving slowly to touch the other's hair. Both eyes searched the young man's face, looking for some sort of conformation. They locked on the sapphire eyes opposite them. Yes… those were the beautiful orbs he knew and loved so much. This was… this was… It was his love. "Heero…" Again, his voice was barely more than a whisper. Unknowingly, he moved closer. "Heero… it is you!"

Smile still gracing his face, Heero reached forward, caressing the braided youth's face lightly with gentle fingers. Slowly, ever so slowly, his other arm moved down to wrap around Duo's waist. Tilting the other's chin up ever so slightly, he leaned forward, softly claiming the boy's mouth with his own.

Duo had at first thought he was dreaming. That thought was quickly shoved out of his mind at this. Dreams couldn't feel this good. His own arms reached up to wind around Heero's neck, fingers burying themselves in the prince's messy hair. He melted into the kiss, loving the feeling of the warm lips against his own. _I'm in heaven…_ When he felt the hesitant tongue brush across his lower lip, the youth opened his mouth without a second thought, moaning softly as Heero's tongue began to caress his own. 

Neither noticed that the cloud overhead were quickly clearing away into nothingness, nor that that colored lights still rained from the sky. Not caring about their attention, the afore-mentioned lights spread: their bright shower now engulfing the entire castle. In a few moments, the colorful storm ceased, and a loud cry of joy rang up through the castle from each and every servant—now visible. However, again, neither of the two lovers on the balcony noticed. They were currently focused on other matters. 

Soon, however, they had to draw apart slightly for air, but neither saw reason to let the other out of his arms. Eyes alight with joy, Heero said the words he had wanted to for so long. "Duo, I love you."

Unshed tears sparkled in the braided youth's amethyst depths. "I love you too, Hee-chan, more than anything!" Deciding that that was enough talking for the moment, Heero swiftly covered his lover's mouth with his own once more. Of course, no complaint was issued. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes- WHEE!! It's DONE!!

Duo- No it's not, you still have the epilogue!

Well, yea, but technically, the story itself is… DONE! WHOOO!! That makes TWO I've finished! ^_^

Duo- Hai, hai… *grin* I like the ending. 

Meh, thought ya would. -_^ Ok, ANYWAYS… I need a bit of, er, help on the epilogue…

Duo- What? I thought you had it all planned out!

I do! Well…. Except for one, tiny, itsy-bitsy little thing… erm… I was…. Kind of thinking… well, you know, Ari was going to write one for her mermaid story, and I thought if she could, I could, and this seemed to be as good a place to try as any, and she even said that if I did, I could put it on her site so ff.net wouldn't kick me off or anything and…

Duo- All right, what is it?

Ummmm… *blushes* I was thinking about…. Writing…. A lemon, in the epilogue… um… yea… ^_^

Duo- ….. Hey, I'm all for that… -_^

Yami- WHAAAAAT?!?!?! You're writing a 1x2 lemon, but not a YxY?!

Hey hey, I never said I was, it was just a thought! That's what I need help on! Ummm… so… all you nice readers… eh, whatcha think? Should I make an attempt? Yay or nay? …. Dearie dearie me, what HAVE I gotten myself into…

Duo- *whispering to the audience* Vote yes!

NO INFLUENCING THE READERS YOU!! Anyways, tell me what you all think… and, em, if I get enough 'yay' votes… I'll consider it…. Maybe… ^_^ See ya in the epilogue!


	8. The incredibly sappy epilogue

Author's Notes- OYA!! YOU ARE ALL GOING TO KIIIIIILLL MEEEEEEE!!! *holds her head in her hands*

Duo- Er, Sage? Something the matter?

*looks up rather crazily* Remember how I asked people to vote in the last chapter…?

Duo- *nods*

Well… out of the small handful of people who actually HAVE voted… *twitch* They…. All… voted… for… *gulps*

Heero- Spit it out, baka.

Don't be calling ME a baka boyo! Ahem. Anyways… as I said… they all… (minus one, I think… though I may be remembering wrong) voted… for…. And this is including each and every character that Ari could think of to bring in and try to convince me…

Duo- WHAT WAS THE VOTE?!?

*small, squeaky voice* Lemon.

Duo- ALL RIGHT!!! 

Heero-…. ^_^

B-b-b-but.. I CAN'T write a lemon! 

Duo- Sure you can!

No no no no, I mean, it's not in my capabilities! I'm not sure it's possible! Oya oya! *again holds her head in her hands* To even get a slight inkling of how it's done, I'd have to go back and read every lemon I've ever read, and then some! OYA!! And if I DO write one, it's going to be very crummy and short, I can assure you! YOU'LL ALL BE THE DEATH OF ME!!!

Duo- Oh, come on, you can do it!

You sound like Ari.

Ari- I'm handing him lines. ^_^

-_- Well, I'll go into this thing with every intention of putting a lemon in somewhere… but don't blame me if I don't get around to it, or if when I do, it's rather crappy. Ahem.

Disclaimer- Still don't own Gundam Wing… it really is a sad thing. *sniff*

Warnings- YAOI CONTENT. 1x2 (mainly) 3x4 and 13x5. If you're reading this on fanfiction.net, then the lemon isn't in here so I won't get banned or whatever. If you're reading it elsewhere…. *gulp* Possible lemon ahead. 

Everyone- GET ON WITH IT!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Treize was feeling very happy indeed. Really, when you stopped to think about it, his mood wouldn't surprise you at all. There was currently a VERY ecstatic black-haired servant hugging him tightly, which is something this certain black-haired servant wasn't prone to do. 

"We're back to normal!" Wufei exclaimed, arms still wrapped around Treize. "It worked!" Slowly, very slowly, the realization of exactly what he was doing sunk in. Even more slowly, he tilted his head upwards to look into the face he was sure would be grinning crazily. Well, perhaps not crazily, but somewhere along those lines that make you think 'Oh dear, what have I done…'

"Indeed." The tall servant reached down to hold Wufei in place, making doubly sure he wouldn't suddenly bolt. "I think that calls for a celebration, don't you?" Still grinning in that same manner (again, not crazy, but definitely something to make you wary) he leaned down and kissed the other full on the lips.

Wufei began to try and pull away, but when he thought about it, it wasn't really something he wanted to do at the moment. That settled, he mentally shrugged and gave in. _Oh well…_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It worked! He did it!" Quatre was a bundle of hyper-energy, but luckily was being kept firmly on the ground by the arms of his koibito. "I can't believe it! It all worked out! This is wonderful!"

"Indeed it is. I…" A slight noise from overhead startled Trowa, making him look up in surprise. "What.. You!"

"Yes, me." The sorceress grinned rather deviously down at the two of them. "What, you didn't think I'd stay to watch the fireworks?" (a/n- oh dear… really, there was no pun intended there… eh heh) She raised an eyebrow at the now-visible servants, who were now finding exactly how disconcerting it was to talk to a young woman with four blue streaks in her hair and completely black clothing; not to mention she was sitting on a rather large light fixture overhead. 

"But…. I don't get it…" Luckily, the blonde servant's energy was temporarily curbed. "Aren't you supposed to be the bad guy who started this whole thing?"

"Of course not!" The sorceress rolled her eyes. "Just think, if I hadn't turned your master into a beast, would he have met Duo?" She raised her eyebrows, as if daring them to retort. Knowing she wouldn't get an answer, she disappeared before either servant could find their voices again. 

"… Would he have?" Quatre whispered.

"I…. I don't think he would have…" Trowa's one visible eye had a thoughtful sparkle to it. "If Master Heero had been his normal self, we wouldn't have let that priest get past our front gates, and Master Duo wouldn't have come to rescue him…"

"…. Oh." The smaller of the two thought for a moment. "Should we have thanked her, do you suppose?"

"I think she knows."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Indeed, she did. The next time the mysterious sorceress appeared, she was seated on the railing of the balcony outside the prince's room, grinning at the two youths who stood there, still wrapped in one another's arms. 

When Heero finally released his lover's mouth and looked up, the sorceress caught his eye, and earned a glare. Her grin remained; she didn't appear to feel threatened, nor did she look displeased with the situation. _That doesn't make sense…_ Duo glanced at the prince's face, confused. The youth merely held him closer. 

"Hee-chan, what's the matter…" The amethyst-eyed boy attempted to turn his neck around to see what Heero was looking at, but the attempt was futile. Sighing, he gave up and merely leaned against the other's chest. 

"You knew this would happen." Heero's voice was soft, but considering the distance between Duo's ears and the prince's mouth, he heard every word perfectly. Somehow, he figured whoever his koi was addressing did as well: Heero had a way with speaking that would definitely need to be studied. 

"Of course I did." This voice was unfamiliar, and feminine. "Why would I have done anything otherwise? I'm not a particularly virtuous person. If I went around turning everyone who was mean into something, I'd never get any sleep. Not to mention I'd have to turn myself into something eventually." Duo could hear the grin on the speaker's face. 

Heero was silent for a moment, considering. Now that he thought about it, things had worked out well. He would have never met Duo if he had been his normal self. A lot of things would be different… how could he have lived without his love? Finding no other words, he figured the first two that came to mind would have to work. "Thank you."

The sorceress shrugged, grin turning into a genuine smile. "Always glad to help." With that, she was gone, more than likely out of the lives of the entire cast forever. (a/n- of course, I can't go around bugging each and every A/U Heero and Duo, that'd take too much effort)

"What was that?" The braided youth's voice was a bit muffled, considering his face was buried in the chest of his lover. One searching hand found a piece of Heero's tattered shirt and began twisting it in his fingers. For a while, he didn't get an answer, but didn't mind that much. It didn't feel like something he should be pushing, in any event.

"Just some… unfinished business, I suppose." Sighing in a sort of relieved manner, the blue-eyed prince rested his chin on Duo's lowered head. Suddenly, he began chuckling softly. Before the braided youth could look up at him curiously, he answered the un-asked question. "I just love you so much, it all feels unreal."

Smiling, Duo planted a soft kiss on Heero's chest. "I love you. It's real, I promise." Finally deciding it was time to check on the state of the rest of the castle, the two left the balcony, each with an arm wrapped around the other's waist. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

As the pair of lovers entered the main hall (where most of the servants had remained after the 'battle'), they were greeted by the applause of everyone in the room, which is usually the case in a happy ending. This is by no means the very ending, but it seemed close enough for the servants. Besides, in any case, you applaud your royalty when they find their love, correct?

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the mess the invading villagers had caused. Even the royal pair joined in the job: Duo, insisting it was his fault the villagers had been there in the first place; and Heero following anywhere his amethyst-eyed lover went, not wanting to let the youth out of his sight. 

No one seemed to be able to find Treize and Wufei, however. The two servants eventually showed up at dinner, the taller of the two sporting a rather…. Well, a grin that made you raise an eyebrow, and the other sporting a very deep blush. 

Dinner itself was a rather interesting event: everyone managed to cram into one of the larger dining halls to eat an incredibly large meal that the cook and her staff were extremely proud of. After which, there was a rather impromptu party-like arrangement, which both Hero and Duo got sick of very quickly. However, a few whispered words from the braided youth into the ear of the blue-eyed prince, and both were sneaking out of the dining room, making an effort not to be noticed. 

As soon as the door closed silently behind them, Duo began to make a short victory speech on their triumphant get-away, but was cut off by quite a large yawn. Heero glanced over, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Tired, koi?" The braided youth nodded, yawning once again. "I could carry you to your room, if you'd like…"

At the mention of 'room', Duo immediately perked, an idea forming in his no-longer-tired mind. "Ah, but you forgot, there's no heat in my room…" He slowly turned to face the prince, whose raised eyebrow was climbing even further up his forehead. "So, I guess I'll have to sleep with you again." Realization dawned upon Heero, who began to grin. However, the action was impeded when Duo pounced on him, crushing slightly shocked lips to his own. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Notes-… you don't honestly think that was it, do you?

Duo- It wasn't... was it?

Course not. I did, as a matter of fact… manage to write a complete citrus fruit of the lemon variety… -_-

Duo- ^_^

But, of course, it's not here. If I posted it here, someone might report me, and I REALLY don't want to have to make another e-mail, re-post everything and all that jazz. Much too difficult, on my part. SOOO… for all of you that DO want to read my poor excuse for a lemon, Ari is hosting it for me… And the link is as follows:

So, anyways… yeeeaaaa… You can stop where I left it here, and live in denial, as my good friend Munchie says, or you can go and read the rest. Either way… PLEEEEEEEASE REVIEW!! Ciao for now, mes amis! *dissapears*


End file.
